Kingdom of Spiders

I haven’t seen any yet, but I think they are forming a plan of attack. I predict siege warfare when I get up in to the upper reaches of the tree. Already my spidey senses are tingling.

I started by cutting back the tree along the two sides that face the house. This gives me room to get the ladder back there. I keep thinking that maybe I should just get rid of the whole tree altogether. Maybe that will be this weeks poll question…..hmmmm…..maybe not. Anyway, it does kind of look nice in this little corner, but it is going to make painting a real bitch. I remember having to deal with it when I took the asbestos siding off. It was a real hassle to work around it then, and that’s not really finesse work.

The paint is just in horrible, horrible shape behind the tree. I started this time by driving the nails below the surface and getting rid of any old putty. Normally I scrape first and then deal with the nails. In some places I get a light shower of paint chips as I swing the hammer to drive the nails in. Yes, it’s that bad. It’s another one of those situations where it’s actually good that it was let to get this bad. Had it been marginal I might be tempted to sand it down a little and repaint. As it is, there is no choice but to take it all off, and given the condition, it wasn’t too hard.

I was able to get about 90% of the paint off the horizontal siding today and I didn’t start until after 3:00. I probably could have gotten it all of it if it hadn’t been for the tree. Even though the paint is in bad shape, and comes off pretty easy, you still need some leverage in some places to get a good pull on the scraper. I just can’t get the ladder where it needs to be. I’m able to get the paint off, it just takes a lot more work than it should.

Here are some assorted photos.

Tree Before Trimming

After Trimming


Every 80 Years Whether It Needs It or Not


Corner Complete. Whew!


The Sweet Spot