Just another worry

Hopefully all of you will have enjoyed the photograph of the shed, which is being insulated today. With a bit of luck I get power in next week.

If you refer back to that picture you’ll see on the right hand side the trunk of a tree. That’s a fully grown ash tree that gives the location of Trebian towers its name. So much so that it is covered by a Tree Protection Order (TPO) which means I need to get planning permission to cut any bits off it.

We love that tree. It has its downsides, - the leaves in autumn are a major job to sweep up that never seems to end. It also sucks a lot of the nutrients out of the soil and grass and blocks the light into the kitchen

On the other hand it provides shade in the summer and somewhere to sling the hammock and swing chair we bought in Costa Rica. And you shouldn’t forget the whole oxygen/carbon footprint thing either. Plus it is a thing of beauty.

 

I wonder how many of you can guess where this posting is going?

 

Well it's worrying news. The disease chalara fraxinea, known as ash dieback, has probably been diagnosed within 5 miles of where we live. The fungal spores are carried on the wind and if they can be blown into East Anglia from the Netherlands I fear a few miles of English countryside may not be a sufficient barrier to save us.

 

All you can do is cross your fingers and hope. Being vigilant is of little use, - even if you spot the tree up the road has the disease before it hits yours it's probably too late by that point anyway.

 

So we sit and wait. That tree is older than I am, and together with others that mark the old hedge row, is a feature of our village.

 

To say nothing of the cost and difficulty of having it taken out if things turn out for the worst without dropping it on the shed.