France in Focus

This is the remains of the magnificent olive tree we planted & nurtured for about 15 years destroyed in minutes by storm Ciaran.
We've decided to keep it as a bird perch or whatever & are still looking for inspiration.

That is a sad end but as a bird perch you will many years pleasure, especially if you load it with bird feeders. (Edit: I have just noticed you have one already.)
I have just put an old, gnarled log on the fire which came our very old medlar pear tree that crashed down last year. The wood is hard and burns slowly so I mix it with other varieties to keep the fire burning.

Another use for it that might work along with being bird friendly, plant a flowering climber at the base and let it decorate the old tree. At least part of the year it will provide a bit of colour and maybe if you're lucky the birds might fancy it as a nest site.

Good thinking.
Mme LAF did just that two days ago.

This is another reason why we want to keep Olive's stump. Its right in front of our kitchen's French door & is what we see from lounging area where it's great to watch the birdies etc.

The flutterbys like Olive

We've had to demolish a laburnham that had split and had a lot of dead wood. We've kept the trunk for the moment and will probably make it a bird feeing area ......