Cleaning Up Some Brush

So, over the winter, we had several large branches fall off of the tree in the backyard.  Probably, I should call someone in to look at it.  However, it's a very old tree, and I live in fear of the fact that if I call out a professional, they'll take one look at the tree and tell us that it's time to take it down.

The branches are still all over the ground, laying where they fell.

Today, I stopped at Home Depot and picked up a pair of loppers and went to work on the branches.  I had visions of stripping off all of the smaller branches and burning them in the fire pit this afternoon, and then having husband cut the big branches up into wood stove size pieces that we could stack in the wood pile to season for next winter.

I had forgotten one little problem.  Those branches are huge, and there were hundreds of small branches on each branch.

After one hour, I had managed to take out and break down one entire branch.  I attempt to haul the big branches that were left away from the tree, but the branch was so heavy that I couldn't get it to move.

I hauled all of the twigs and mid-size branches over to the fire pit, loaded them in, and then attempted to light them up.

And there was my second miscalculation of the day.  The wood was green.  Attempting to get it lit and to keep it lit was the product of an hour.  I ended up having to take the wood out of the pit, layer in some seasoned firewood, finally got that going, and then piled on the twigs and mid size branches.
Every once in a while, I would pile on more branches and weigh them down with another piece of heavy firewood.

3 hours after I started, I put the last of the wood from THE FIRST BRANCH onto the woodpile and looked up worriedly at the sky.  Rain clouds were quickly gathering, and the breeze had picked up.
Thankful that I wasn't going to add anymore wood to the fire, we began the nervous countdown to see if the fire would burn itself out before the rain started.

We were fortunate.  The first raindrops began an hour later, and the fire had burned itself out just as the raindrops started to fall.

I surveyed the mess in the back yard by the light of the setting sun.  One huge branch had been cut down.  The thick center section had been cut down for firewood.  The twigs and mid-size branches were all burned down.  I'd even managed to cut down and burn two smaller branches that had fallen.

Based upon my progress today, I've got 8 more burn nights to get through the brush pile just under that one tree.  That's not counting the other branches that are down under other trees. 

We just might have to break down and haul the smaller branches to the dump.  I suspect our neighbors would like to see the downed branches go away.  I know I'd like to see them go away before the termites move in and start keeping house.