NEVER let a friendly neighbour convince you to let them fell a tree for you regardless of their years of experience and insistence. Here in Portugal it is sometimes the case that well-meaning bravado ends in disaster. Most civil accidents happen in tree felling here.
The end result for us was pretty catastrophic but almost fatal for the 71 year old neighbour Amandeu, who insisted that our diseased tree had to come down and that he and his friends would do it for us. This tree is around 70 feet tall and twisted as hell and is next to our house.
I think the following photos tell the story...except that you can't really see that Amandeu ends up under the branches of the tree..
Amandeu our neighbour is here in the grey cap. Don´t ask me why they thought they were holding the tree up while the other guy makes the gob cut.
Instead of bringing the tractor and steel cable they decided to use a rope and lashed it to an olive tree to the right of the pathway in order to pull it towards the field by hand. It was not a good idea. The tree fell heading for the house and the men and not to the field.
You can see George escaping up the pathway...he ducked under the trunk just before it bridged the gap, but Amandeu was still on the path with nowhere to run.
I had been standing right here watching from what I thought was a safe distance. I don't know how but once the tree started toppling towards me I found myself under our veranda overhang by the kitchen door...looking for the dogs! They were terrified but unhurt.
In the picture above you can see where Amandeu was lying on the pathway, on his back with his head at the foot of the broken gate. Luckily the trunk didn't hit him, and we think he tripped and fell badly on the log step before the tree landed and the top branches of the tree were hung up inside the garden on our crushed gate and garden fence.
Lots of spectators arrived from the village to find out what had happened since they saw ambulance turn down our track.
It took two ambulances and a doctor in his emergency car to see to Amandeu. He was extremely lucky and was taken to hospital 3 hours after the tree fell. We worried that he might have broken ribs but as it turns out he has suffered severe bruising around his back but no other damage.
So we started the cleanup the following morning...
Steve and Vanessa helped to cut and clear the top section of the trunk and the brash from the garden and gate as well as cutting back the olive tree which was smashed. The wood is now stored on the back terrace and we burned the brash. Fraser has created a new fence by cannibalizing the fence around the field paddock and we have reinstated the old willow gate to keep the dogs in.
George organised a tractor with cable to come and cut and move the rest of the trunk and we let them keep the wood as payment.
So farewell old tree...
Other news ..My water feature is finally finished
and friends came for lunch to view it and celebrate the event....
The weather has now turned and producing autumn landscapes.
We have cleared the terraces and had new steps done so that I can get around them more easily.
Bugsy has made a den for himself and Scraps
and still manages to find snakes for Fraser to rescue..
The river is so low now that it is turning up some wonderful old tree stumps.....
wish we could cart them up to the house for the garden!
The water was at the top of this building in May.
So we now have the rain that we have waited for so long to see. Hopefully it will green up the garden and irrigate the new trees on the terraces.
We have started lighting our wood burners now and winter is on its way.
cold and sunny
to dark dismal and rainy so we never know from day to day what is happening. The oaks have changed colour
and the creatures around us are getting sorted for winter, and some getting lost too.
our Christmas day with Seana and Harry in their wonderful new home kitchen 
and latest shots of Lexa at home at Christmas.
