Take a Hike

It was a beautiful weekend here in Western New York, so we took advantage of the fleeting weather and hit up a local park for a walk with the dogs. What started out as a nature walk through the woods, turned into quite the adventurous hike. Our two year old daughter did an excellent job climbing the steep slopes and descents as we navigated our way out after about an hour and a half. It was so much fun and such a memorable experience. We all took a hard nap when we got home.

Some loot from our “nature walk”

And speaking of taking a hike, we’re serving the two large beech trees in our front yard an eviction notice today.

This picture doesn’t do their size justice. And the one on the left is rotted and filled with cement. They drop a lot of branches when it’s windy, leaves in the fall, and pods during the summer. Our gutters are constantly begging to be cleaned out. They’re just a messy tree and they’re encroaching on the house, which we see as a safety issue. The small tree next to the tree on the right will be removed by my husband. It’s maybe 15 feet tall. The others are probably close to 75 feet tall. I do love the shade they provide outside, but I’m excited to see how it will brighten up the inside of the house once they’re removed.

From the inside foyer these trees always cast a strange glow. When the leaves are green it turns the entire foyer and upstairs hallway green. When they’re orange/yellow it casts an orangey hue. Nevermind that this entire area needs to be painted. But with the trees removed and a more stable filter coming through the large foyer window, it will make our decision for paint color a little easier.

You can see the orangey glow best in the upstairs hallway. The walls are painted an off-white color (similar to the steps), but you would think they were painted yellow according to this picture. The floral border is my fave (heart eyes emoji). 

And you can see why there might be an orange hue cast on the walls with the way these trees block the foyer window.

The other front facing rooms are pretty dark because of these trees. You can see how close they are to the house in these pictures:

We may miss the privacy that they provide (especially in the upstairs bedrooms), but we’re really looking forward to the new light we’ll get during the day and the reduced amount of leaves we’ll have to rake…

Can you believe the amount of leaves that are on the ground after seeing how many are still on those trees? It’s anxiety inducing. And apologies in advance to my husband, but I’m playing the pregnancy card this year. Heart eyes emoji, babe.