Oleastered

Two more shifts on the oleaster, having noticed the start of operations at reference 1. The first shift in the margins of roasting a bit of pork, the second in the margins of baking bread batch No.650. Both of which turned out very well, neither spoiled by failing to pay attention at critical moments, an easy enough mistake to make when multi-tasking.

Cutting all conducted while perched on the top step of the ladder at reference 4. Mindful of the woodworm holes and the fact that BH had fallen through the platform of the other ladder when it collapsed when she was doing a spot of pruning. Some additional safety provided by tying the ladder in to the bush, providing some lateral stability.

The cutting pole fairly well extended, which meant that the back of the pole was not providing a counterweight, making getting the cutting head into the right place quite tiring.

Extraction of the cut pieces mainly down to the rather longer hook, with the weight of the back of the pole giving flicking the cut piece out a bit of impetus. I thought that the pole might well have been knocked up by some country blacksmith, of which I know of at least one in the area. A bit complicated for DIY, but a bit artisanal for B&Q or somewhere like that.

As well as the odd stretch of bramble, plenty of oleaster shoots which were pretty long too. And plenty of dead wood in the interior. All chopped up and spread out on the larger of our two compost heaps. Perhaps, in due course, to fuel some more of the giant mushrooms noticed at reference 3.

Next step, negotiate with next door neighbour about tidying up the bits to the south which I could not quite reach. And, then, sit back and see whether it all grows back again.

PS 1: had we been a bit younger, I think I might have taken the whole thing out and started over. Bit late now.

PS 2: we now have a botanical confusion. This shrub is in the Elaeagnaceae family, while olives, with which they share some features, are the Oleaceae family. So quite different. But there seems to be a suggestion at reference 7, that the first might supply root stocks for the second. Rather in the way that we have all kinds of rootstocks for apples.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/04/some-serious-pruning.html. In the beginning.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/03/captain-hook.html. The hook.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/10/fungal-news.html. The repository.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/09/ladder-nostalgia.html. The ladder. The larger one, that is to say the one at the back.

Reference 5: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2016/07/rope-1.html. The rope to tie in the ladder.

Reference 6: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/2015/10/autumn-cutlery-1.html. The cutters.

Reference 7: https://treefreewallpaper.blogspot.com/2012/06/oleaster-tree.html. The source of the snap above. Rather handsome, if not exactly something for a hedgerow. And there are lots more of them.