Crash!

To the right of our garden by the privet hedge there grew a spindly staghorn sumac tree. I think that it had self-seeded there. A strange tree really with large pinnately compound leaves that turned bright red or orange in the autumn. And in the summer it produced big furry dark red seed pods  - the velvety texture of which might remind anyone of stags' antlers.

Anyway, I digress. About eight years ago this little tree effectively died . No buds, no new leaves. I decided to use it as a bird feeding station on which we could hang seed or suet ball containers. A few of the outermost branches were sawn off.

Then one day, I had the bright idea of painting the dead tree white with some leftover masonry paint. Forty minutes later it was done. 

Over the next six years I repainted the tree twice. It was an odd sight really but it seemed popular with various bird species as they came to feast on the bird food that was hanging there like regulars at a branch (!)  of McDonalds.

Then on Monday of this week, Shirley was working by our little greenhouse when suddenly she heard a crash. It was a still afternoon but the staghorn sumac tree had chosen that particular moment to keel over.

The next day I went out to inspect the scene, expecting to have to saw the upper part of the tree from its trunk.However, there was no need for that. I was easily able to yank the tree from the ground. The base was pretty rotten. I left it in the middle of our lawn - like a strange avant garde sculpture or something. 

Then on Wednesday I noticed that the early birds - mostly magpies and crows had removed much of the white paint from the thickest part of the trunk. They had really had a go at it - probably seeking wood feeding insects and larvae. They might have cleaned up after themselves!

In other exciting Yorkshire Pudding news... Today I gathered up five wheelbarrow loads of fallen leaves. Then I put them in a big builders' sack which I covered over and I will leave them there to rot down into nutritious leaf mould which will be "cooked" in about a year's time.

Finally, this interesting "Big Boy" sign was spotted somewhere in America, but I don't know where...