It was a close call. I thought I could get a notch to one side, then cut the other and get it to fall to the west. It closed on the gap on the east. There was no way it was going the direction I needed it to. And any more cutting and I think it would fall to the house. I got the chain on the big branch and was trying to figure out how to properly pull it the side I wanted without losing control of it. Then Missus came out and we talked, and she was the one that came up with the idea of pulling through the tree and lifting the branch up. That worked a treat. It lifted the branch, proving my point that the thing was very close to breaking. It came up and I then lowered it down as slow as I could. The lever broke on the tree, and the whole thing fell, but not near as far as it would have, and I think as the lever broke, the bottom of the branch came closer to the tree, making sure the far reaching bis were further from the house and sheds, preventing damage there.
I have cut all but the big center bit of the tree and will do that tomorrow. It should be easy to fell in the direction I want it to go. But I will have to be elevated to do it. Once it is down, I will have to figure out the stump.
My biggest plan for today was to keep from ending up a Darwin Award. I felt like it was heading that way, and I stressed. Missus came out and gave me an idea that I was not thinking of at all, and it worked. I did not go off the ground and end up in trouble there. I just need to get this last bit down safely. If I can do that and not become a statistic, I think I have got this, lickety-split! And no more worries about the tree falling on anybody.