When we came home from Wisconsin we saw that this tree- the tallest one in the picture- had dropped a huge branch across the yard of our neighbor's house (the whitish one). Fortunately it missed their house and their car. These neighbors have become newer friends- they have a little girl Clara's age and a baby boy.
Unfortunately, the tree (a Hackberry) had to come down. The branch it had lost was really a whole tree in and of itself and it had lost a similarly large branch maybe 6 years ago. There was a lot of rot on the inside of the trunk, and it just wasn't stable anymore. We spent quite a bit of our day watching the men take it down.
The kids were momentarily distracted by this katydid.
Here you can see the interest in the katydid, Clara's need for ear protection, and some of the huge pieces of the first branch that had come down.
It was fascinating to watch, but a very sad tree to lose. It has left quite a bare spot. This was the second tree lost in that section of the neighborhood this summer. Also interesting - I guess Hackberry is a very dense wood- so these guys were working very very hard on a hot hot day. The wood chipper couldn't handle the larger pieces, but that was kind of cool because it gave us a chance to go investigate the tree from the inside.
In other news, Franklin had his 7th birthday. We had a small party and Sharon and Rhiannon made these amazing cupcakes. The 'dog treats' were also for humans.
This was Franklin's cake. The carrots were Henry's idea. Franklin's favorite part was the peanut butter.
It's been so nice to have Sharon and the girls back home!
Helena and the kids came to celebrate as well. Look how big Norbert is getting! Sorry I don't have a better photo of him.
If you look closely you can see the big plate of assorted wieners I grilled up for the occasion. It was delicious!
Clara went shopping with her Grandma on Monday and they picked up a festive sweater for Franklin. Here he is enjoying some time in it.
And with the kids....
We kind of had to squeeze him into it. You can tell he felt quite regal.
As a matter of fact, it was quite a challenge to get him in AND out of the sweater. It may have actually been what caused the sprain in his back for which I had to take him to the vet yesterday. Now Franklin's on medication and bed rest. Poor pooch. (I don't actually blame the sweater, but we did pass it on to Franklin's friend Calvin once we eased him out of it.)
Speaking of Calvin...his human, Rhiannon, is spending the evening with us tonight. Sharon had a last-minute opportunity for some photo work downtown and Sinéad was busy for the evening. We had some Chinese food for dinner and put together this fabulous gingerbread train from a Target kit. Now we're watching a little Muppets Christmas Carol.
If you look closely in the photo you may see streaks of blue on Clara's face. She snuck a couple of gumballs while we were making the train. Sneaky little girl. When I asked her if she had a taste of anything she said "No I not!"
