TIMBER!

Part of what Jonathan and I fell in love with about this particular lot was its trees.  Beautiful, beautiful trees.  Being from Montana, I feel less and less at home the flatter my landscape gets.  So if I can't have mountains (and don't try to tell me about the Wichitas - those aren't mountains; those are hills with foliage), I'm damn-well gonna have some trees.

Only one problem: Most new (after 2000) housing additions in Oklahoma clear the land to put up row upon row of cookie cutter houses, wiping out all the trees in the process.  When Jonathan and I stumbled upon the lot we are now cultivating, we were THRILLED to see the lush green belt that lined the lots hadn't been tampered with.  Part of what made us fall so hard for it.

However, as we have found, that luscious green belt has provided a few hiccups in our development process.  I don't begrudge the trees at all, but the issue did have to be dealt with.  If Jonathan and I wanted a large, flat area of land for a yard, two trees would have to go.  Granted, they were dead anyway - so I didn't feel too bad taking them down.

So we called on some friends, Ken Parker and his son, Leo, both pros at wilderness/farming/ranching/chainsaw stuff, to help us take the trees down.  A fair trade as Ken and Leo would have taken the wood for firewood this winter.  An excellent bargain!

What we weren't prepared for was what the trees were: Walnut. Black Walnut, also known as American Walnut, is one of the finest North American lumber species. Along with mahogany and cherry, walnut set the standard for American furniture.  A gorgeous milky brown wood that is prized among lumber producers and woodworkers.  When Ken and Leo started taking the trees down, they realized the trees' value as a decorative wood, and couldn't bring themselves to burn it.

So now what do we do with a bunch of walnut logs sitting at the edge of our lot?

DECOR!

I have contacted a gentleman in Tulsa who thinks he'll be able to turn the wood into some centerpiece bowls and artwork for us.  The trick is just getting the wood to him.  It's a dense, heavy wood and it's sitting at the bottom of a slope.  We're very excited to have someone who can work the wood into something beautiful and unique for our new home.

Now we just need to find a friend with a back hoe that can pull them out for us.

Any takers?

Cheers -
Caroline