The day gravity kicked in......

This morning during a rather quiet patch - one of the trees fell over in the garden. Literally splitting in two with a might 'crack', the magnificent Chinese Elm which used to shade the playground area is now no more. This tree has stood in the gardens for just under 60 years, and apart from the shade, the canopy used to literally hum with thousands of bees in summer as they collected pollen from the little white flowers that used to cover the tree.

The centre of the tree, unbeknownst to us, had been eaten by termites, and the recent rains had loosened the soil and further made the spreading branches heavy with water. This was just too much for the old lady, and split down the middle and crashed to the ground.

Crushing one of the swings, it looked as though it had been cleaved with an ax. Old Joseph, predictably, came along to inspect, and he gives a little perspective as to the size of the tree.....

The one half of the tree fell onto the 'boat swing' - and that is now pretty inoperable at this stage. Having seen some of the lady visitors who have clambered onto it over the past 12 years, I can state that it was indeed a sturdy piece of equipment. No longer.

This picture best shows the 'rot' in the trunk which caused the collapse.

The other half of the tree fell over towards the hotel - narrowly missing the little blue horse - which had to lean to one side to escape the full brunt of the collapse!

So ends another chapter.......