And still they come down

The trees keep coming down. We’ve let a couple of friends have the wood – they’ve got a wood-burning stove to use it in.

Poor Pete, a rather unfit (despite the golf he regularly plays) retired teacher, is now suffering back ache. He just about recovered from hauling the lot on Friday, to make another trip on Saturday to collect yet more. They have an estate car, but even so they’ve already had to do 6 trips to carry away all the wood.

Pete never saw the garden before the work began.  He’s convinced we must have had a forest in the garden. There’s certainly enough wood to satisfy their heating needs for a couple of years at least.

I tried to reassure Pete that at least he could have today off. But no, today he’s roped into playing football with his grandson. And then, come Monday, it will be back round for yet more wood.

The row of trees, forming a hedge behind where the greenhouse used to stand, is remaining for the time being. They give some privacy to our bedroom, which would otherwise be overlooked by our neighbours. Those will come down in June. “Oh, joy!” thought Pete, as he realised there will be yet more wood to collect then.

All Pete’s moans made me stop to count how many trees we will be planting when the new garden is done in June. I make it nearly 40! That says something for the size of the back garden.

We’re now seeing houses we’ve never seen. Neighbours are relishing the amount of light that is suddenly in their houses. The garden is certainly a lot lighter. I just wish the whole job could be completed in one go, but it is only fair we wait our turn for the work to be done. At least the trees that had been blown down in the storms are cleared now & the fence panels restored. This stage of the work should be completed tomorrow & peace will return to our garden.

Meanwhile the birds are all moving into the hedge behind where the greenhouse was. They are finding new perching sights on fences & roofs. They, too, will no doubt be happier once the new trees are in place & they will have some sheltered places to roost.

Under way

I’m not sure if there doesn’t look like there’s more clutter in the garden than before. Many of the trees are down. Logs are piled up in one corner – a friend has a log-burning stove so we’re letting her have that lot. The lawn is covered with huge piles of smaller branches, twiggery and foliage. It’s certainly looking lighter. You can even see the end of the garden & just how big the garden is.

They are due to come back later today to finish the job of flattening everything. The original idea was to have a bonfire in the middle, but now they realise they will be here forever if they do that, and they still haven’t felled all the trees. They’ve decided to bring a shredder instead.

They haven’t arrived yet today. The two who came yesterday thought they would have to help the others planting elsewhere, then everyone would come here & hopefully finish this job. So I sit here waiting the onslaught of workmen.

They seem very self-reliant & not much nuisance. I was amazed when I was asked where there was a power supply. When I asked why, they produced a bucket filled with a kettle, milk, sugar, a couple of mugs, coffee. They were happy to use the outside water tap so they wouldn’t need to disturb us. They believe in bringing their own so as not to inconvenience their clients. That certainly makes a change. One of the most exhausting things I usually find is constantly making, delivering & clearing up drinks for workmen, so this is a real delight for me.

And they all come down...

They’re coming tomorrow to sort out our trees. It will be good to see further down our garden, at present blocked by the fallen tree. It will also be nice to regain some privacy from our neighbours.

I’ve just been round to see our neighbour, BJ. The garden company are hoping to take down his huge sycamore tree as well, as it casts so much shade over our garden. They are also muttering about whether they can take down another of BJ’s big trees. I thought I’d best warn BJ that they were coming tomorrow & check that he & his wife were still happy about that sycamore tree coming down. BJ says he is. He was intending to do it himself in the summer, when the better weather came. This just pre-empts him & saves him a job to do, at our expense, not his.

The garden is going to look bare without all the trees, especially as the main job won’t be happening until June. However, it’s best done now, before too many birds have built their nests & started to rear their young. They’ve still got chance to build elsewhere.

The hedge of trees behind where the greenhouse was is to remain for the time being as they provide essential screening for our bedroom. They will come down at last minute.

Monday morning

I’ve just finished making up some fishcakes to fry up for dinner today. I’m being extravagant. The fish I’m using is smoked salmon, just some offcuts that have been sitting around the freezer for a while.  It should make a pleasing change.

And yet another Monday morning I’ve managed to get the washing out. A few things have even dried already.

My next job is to draft out a complaint to the surgery concerning the letter I received last week. The more I think about it, the more I worry about the nervous person living on their own, possibly feeling some adverse symptoms.  That sort of letter would be really frightening. Fortunately the Fox, Linda & various friends have calmed me down a bit but it still rankles, & niggles at the back of my mind.

I’m particularly anxious in that I’m thinking it’s time I tried that dreaded task, finding holiday insurance for our trip to Croatia. One thing insurance companies are reluctant to even countenance covering you for is if you are undertaking medical investigation. Do these enquiries constitute investigation? I thought it would be bad enough with the Fox currently having physiotherapy treatment at the hospital for his hip, but an uncertainty like this will really put the price up.