Surveying the damage

The tree surgeons came with their cherry picker first thing this morning, taking advantage of the brief window of bright weather. It took them a couple of hours to sever the upper part of the fallen pine and carefully remove it from its resting place against the house and on the roof. I don't have a photo which gives a clear impression of what has been lifted from the house, but given its size and weight and the force with which it must have fallen, we were surprised the damage was not greater. There are quite a lot of broken roof tiles, the guttering is down and the hardwood window frame has suffered a bit; until the roofer removes the tiles, we won't know whether there is any damage to rafters. Inside, quite a lot of rain has come in this afternoon through the two holes in the edge of the ceiling above the window. However, the wall and the window seem to have survived intact, though a crack in the render will need closer inspection. The roofer had a quick look and decided it's a low priority compared to a lot of the houses waiting for his attention: judging by some of the photos I've seen on Facebook, I'm sure that's a fair assessment. He should be back early next week. The main photo shows the middle section of the trunk still lying where it fell with most of its branches still attached. The upper part has been cut into large pieces, some of which can be seen on the ground. The extra includes the side of the house, though it's not possible to see onto our very shallow pitched roof without a ladder.

I had hoped to clear at least some of the shattered greenhouse glass from the deck and greenhouse floor today, but by the time we had finished J's shower and breakfast, after a much needed late start, the wind had strengthened and was increasingly gusty, making me nervous about being outside among broken glass; heavy rain soon followed. We have a lot of clearing up ahead of us.