..."My friend, the tree is dead" 🥺 Alexandra once sang... ...it didn't die in the early morning glow, no—it was in the blazing 🔥 midday heat... ... Believe me, it really hurt my soul to order this planned “murder”... ... In the end, it was once again practical constraints that forced my hand...🙄 ...one less tree providing shade in the village, 🙄 my only consolation: just a few meters away, a birch sapling—now already 10 years old—provides shade despite the extreme drought 🙂 Of course, the wood will be put to good use in our wood-burning stove; I’ve chipped the branches and twigs to scatter them along the garden paths… a small consolation, but at least it’s something…🤷 ...and, if I can somehow find the time, I’ll try to inoculate the stump with a mushroom culture...🍄