Tim-berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Our pine trees died. We weren't really sad about that as we'd never been that attached to them. They were just here when we bought the house along with a lot of other rather english plants that weren't suited to our climate( ie thirsty). But they did look unsightly with all their brown droopy needles.
So we did what any sensible person would do and got a seventy year old neighbour who may or may not be related to me in the way that things work in the country, who happens to be handy with a chainsaw to come and chop them down. It was done very quickly with a minimum of fuss and we've had lots of firewood to keep us warm. The neighbour apparently does this occasionally as well as marking lambs, playing golf and shooting foxes. And yes, I'm aware that certain people may think that's cruel but in one day he has been known to catch over fifty foxes and barely make a dint in the local population.
We have to have a bonfire (or two) to burn out the stumps, so I'm sure we'll be stocking up on marshmallows before we do that. In the meantime they make good seats in the sun.