Bye bye tree.

The last couple of days have been bloody windy in South Wales. Have a look at what the BBC News website has about it, for the general picture.

We've not escaped. Jayne rang me at work when she got home yesterday to let me know that our lilac tree (a good, sturdy tree as far as I knew) had been blown over in the gales. I rushed back to find everything in a bit of a state, as you can see here. (All pics are clickable for bigness.)



The view from our front bedroom shows the carnage as well.



So, with the wind rattling me and rain coming and going, I set to work with my late grandfather's 8" saw (my only saw, in fact) to try and cut the tree into manageable pieces for me to dispose of. Whilst doing this I discovered the base of the tree was actually rather weak - it looked dry and diseased. Some pieces just pulled away from others. I was reminded of the tree stumps in my junior school, where the elm trees had stood before the Dutch Elm Disease epidemic of the 1970s - the wood was dry and flaking. Quite how it had managed to stand up to the winds of South Wales for so long, I don't know!

Anyway, with my tiny saw and a heavy heart, I cut the tree up. I decided I wanted to keep some big bits to do something with in the garden, but all the small branches and twigs were cut off and the big sections cut into manageable chunks. In the process I discovered just how many ladybirds lived in the tree - I hope they find somewhere else in the garden!



A good while later, the tree-butchering was complete, as you can see.

We're all upset - humans and cats. The lilac tree going freaked out the cats completely, and the light is different in the garden now, and it all looks weird from our sofa. We had taken, especially on sunny days, various photos underneath the tree (as you can see in my haircut photos elsewhere on this blog) of friends, us on special occasions, the cats or just the passing seasons. What is disappointing is that we'll not get the chance to do that with our kids when we have them.

Lilacs are survivors though, and our lilac tree has many descendants that were growing around the roots. Instead of cursing them like I had been, we'll get nurturing them.