Bringing Light Into The House And Adherence of State Fire Prevention Regulations

For weeks and months I have been thinking about how I was going to get three Cedar Trees "upskirted" which I have learned means cutting lower branches from a tree .  Here in California we have specific Fire Hazard Zone Regulations regarding maintenance of Defensible Space around our homes to assist in protection from Fires, specifically Wild Fires .

In addition to the County/State Fire regulations, two of the trees needed to be trimmed because the Internet Service Provider and Electrical cables were covered with tree branches. Also, the tree near the garage had branches over hanging to close to the house roof .  The third tree is the one outside of my dining room window that had grown so very much that it was also widening and preventing light from coming into the house.

Since I have issues with the mood disorder  (Seasonal Affective Disorder)  the darkness inside my home is a very challenging situation .  Unfortunately, the floor plan of my house lacks maximum use of window placement which means the interior is very dark . There are no windows on the front of the house which faces west .  There is no time of the day that I can work in the kitchen without turning a light on because it is so dark .

Two other facts that impact the lack of light in the house is that the eaves/roof overhangs are larger than usual .  Second, the large trees around my house have grown a lot during the 24 years that I have lived here which creates more shade .

This was the garage roof that also shows the roof covered with pine needles and cedar twigs as well as some deadwood that came down during a recent heavy wind.  And, now it is wide open and you can even see my Rooster weather vane.

In this photo you can see the cables at the top of the photo .  And, the branches were so low that they were laying on the Oleander plants that I recently trimmed and cleaned up.  The Oleander plants were also causing obstruction of view for cars coming up to the curve in the roadway in the front of my house.

And, now the front corner of my property is cleaned up and open.  My raised vegetable bed is on the far lower right .  It looks like it may receive more afternoon sunlight in the future and perhaps I can grow tomatoes again next year and get better results.

By the way,  the haze that you can see in the photo is smoke filled air from the Wild Fires that are burning north of here in the Wine Country in Sonoma and Napa Valley and Santa Rosa, California .  It is such a disastrous situation .  It leaves me in such disbelief just as so many of recent events in the daily news !

And, this is the third tree that will now allow light to come into my dinning room . The beautiful Burning Bush  is turning into its lovely fall color of blazing red .  Hopefully, next spring the Quince Plant on the left will get enough sun and it will give a full bloom for the first time with it's pretty orange-red flowers.

I hope your week is going well and you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather and associated activities.

Mary