So long!

I was so very pleased yesterday afternoon when I got home and saw that I had two fewer trees in my back yard. I love trees; I really do, but this one tree was... it was... stinky. That's about all I can say about it. In the spring, I dreaded coming home and getting out of my car to smell that darn thing. I can't describe what it smelled like. I can, but I'm going to refrain. It. was. bad. To make matters worse, the tree was huge -- about as tall as my house and probably about 20 feet wide -- and you could smell it four blocks away (well not really, but you know). And, it had these prickly things that fell in the fall, and you still can't sit anywhere near it because of the splinters all in the grass. It's the tree in the background of these pictures. It does look pretty, all yellow and fallish, but don't let it fool you. Come springtime, it wallops you with a big fat stench for several weeks.

Here's a bit better view. Don't forget: looks are deceiving!

Thanks to my sweet husband for taking care of that! Now with what shall I replace it?

UPDATE: I did some research and after getting a ton of results mentioning bradford pears and thinking we had cut down the wrong tree -- although I knew that I checked it myself last spring to see if the smell was coming from that particular one -- I found it! It's a Chinese Chestnut. You can check it out here -- specifically the part labeled "backyard considerations." Even my grandmother new exactly what I was talking about when I told her about the tree's smell. Before I even said it out loud, she said it for me! I'm telling you; it's bad.