A while back I got a wild hair to hack some limbs from the pine trees that border our property. In our process of settling into our new stead, we’d moved the coop (again! oy) away from the pine tree canopy into the newly fenced in area. With the coop no longer there, I had an idea.
As these things go with me, it was completely spontaneous. I was on my way to the garden shed to put a tool away. I set down the rake and picked up a handsaw to cut one branch and didn’t stop until dark. I was wearing flip flops, a skirt and tank top. By the end I was barefoot, up in a tree, covered in sap, pine needles nested in every bodily nook possible. Man, it was fun. All got-get-em-Mowgli-style.
I had a hard time finding a good before shot but here you can see that the branches arched to the ground. Before:
And here, is when we first looked at this property last summer (tiny Ruby!). Before:
After:
I ended up raising the canopies of four trees by about ten feet. It has completely transformed our space and access to the public land we border. More light, more open to the hill (sledding soon!) and, as my husband’s keen eye noticed, the perfect place for a trapeze. Margot especially missed her trapeze.
At one time, our plastic baby swing hung from the crabapple tree until one day when it flew off with Ruby in it. It flew off with Ruby in it. This was one of my crazy-morbid-mom thoughts that I thought would never happen and it did. See, Margot and Ruby had this habit of twisting each other up as high as they could and letting themselves spin like mad. Well, there must have been a weak spot in the rope or something because, one summer afternoon I heard shrieking and raced out back to find Margot helping Ruby out of the baby swing like 12 feet from the tree. Homegirl was unwinding from one epic twistup, the rope snapped and she rocketed into the field like a rock out of a slingshot. She was totally fine.
So. My man built a sturdy little swing in it’s place.
view from my studio
The Swing. A simple, joyous toy made from scraps, a tree and a desire to soar.
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In this week’s column, I wrote about an uphill climb (literally) I waged with my daughters. It was boring perfection and perfect boredom all wrapped up in flat tires, determination and a hillside sprint. Click to read mama digs: right where we ought to be.
15 Comments
Those trees would also be the perfect place to also put a little slackline in to play on – kids and adults alike. Like some of the low ones here on this site http://www.slackline.co.nz/.
My girl would love that trapeze and swing.
I received the Upper Peninsula tee shirt you made yesterday. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my mom, but I was so excited I gave it to her. She love, love, loves it!
Thank you!
“All got-get-em-Mowgli-style”…..your very own Jungle Book backyard complete with swing & trapeze! Wow what a difference this makes…good job Burb!
Margot~You are a natural on your trapeze! It won’t be long now and you will be trading that perch in for a a little sled action! Maybe we can sled together at Christmastime, can hardly wait to wait for Santa with you! I Love You A Bushel & A Peck!
Ruby~Look how big you are, where is THAT tiny Ruby!? I am counting the days until I see you….68 to be exact! You and Margot are MY Christmas! You are My Sunshine!
xoxo
Love to all,
Mom/Terri/Gram
That looks like SO MUCH FUN! I would be right there with the girls spinning until I couldn’t walk straight.
Way to go being parents that aren’t all, “OH NO YOU’LL HURT YOURSELF COME SIT IN FRONT OF THIS SAFE TV” and instead building something that they can really have fun with.
The first “after” photo of the trees had me GASPING, and the flying baby swing had me gasping even louder!
I love your property so.very.much. and thanking the heavens for Ruby’s safety!
BTW, shall I send payment for the chicken shirt to your p.o. box? I can send a check. I usually pay by Visa (my hubs likes everything itemized ;), but is it possible to pay that way through your Etsy shop? I tried, but kept being diverted to Paypal? Either way, I promise, I promise I’m good for it 🙂
[email protected]
So very lovely. A beautiful place for adulthood as well as childhood. Some of my favorite memories are playing with my sister on our backyard swing. Thank you for sharing your life with us!
i just love seeing your homestead transform! cuz, no homestead is complete without a trapeze.
ahem, also dying to see how the bathroom turned out… pretty please
Oh, I “get” your gardening moment. Damn, I’ve been there before and I can totally see you 8′ up in a tree, sap covered, sweaty, brown with dirt, smelling like earth; sawing yet one more mother-effing branch off. Did I mention cursing at the tree as your handsaw gets stuck. Yep, I get it. But I love the result.
The swing story completely freaked me out, but can you imagine life without a swing? I can’t. I’ve been scheming to create a rustic trellis/structure to house a swing and maybe a grapevine. I’m trying to wear daddy down. Christmas is coming. I think that I can do it.
You joyful house makes me smile Nici.
-Jennifer
I have many a treasured memory of swinging at my grandparents’ house on a similar swing (all I have to do is look at a “board” swing to feel my sweet grandma and grandpa with me again) hanging from a similar tree. I love this so much. 🙂
Fo realz… who doesn’t love a swing? Little babes feet and toes are even smiling in the first pic.
Nice tree trimmin’, momma!
You make me want to move to Montana with every post, but as my husband’s new job is in Atlanta, I don’t think that would work. I am feeling mopey (and guilty) about moving with our three kids to an apartment after seeing another glimpse of your homestead and that wide open space. But that just means we have to explore and find a backyard to call our own.
Beautiful photos…I know it was not funny then and probably still isn’t, but I couldn’t help laughing at the mental image of Ruby flying off with the old swing. Looks like real fall in Montana.
the beauty that surrounds you is SO amazing!
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