smokingboot

Years ago, my partner and I moved oop narth, if near Manchester counts as north. We bought a little house and for a couple of summers the sun shone. The little house loved summer parties, and though the garden was small, we enjoyed it. We planted blackcurrant bushes there, and a really beautiful pear tree that I thought was a quince. Turned out it was 'Doyenne Du Commice' grafted onto a quince tree root/boll/whatever they are. The little tree was not necessarily a wise buy...Doyenne Du Comice need external pollinators, and there weren't that many pear trees around. So I was delighted when the little tree's teeny blossoms gave way to mini pears that grew and grew. I don't even like pears, I just like the magic of things being there that were not there before.

Since then, we had to move to London for work, and our little house has had two groups of tenants. During the gap between occupancies, our letting agents turned out to be rubbish, and didn't look after the house at all. Our current tenants have made it homely and nice, according to

larians. They cleared the garden. All of it. Including Quincey.

That was a young tree, many years of life in it, much to give, and very pretty as well.

These seem to be conscientious people who have redecorated and spent money on the house, made it their home. They didn't know. I should have left specific instructions. The house apparently looks great, they have taken time and trouble,

larians tells me they seem lovely.

I am fighting my desire to give them two months notice to get the f*ck off the property.

Yes, I am angry and upset. Not so upset as to behave unjustly but still very unhappy.

At a time when I am trying desperately hard to believe that people deserve better than a dose of the Prince Philip virus, it would really be nice to see people treat nature with respect. It irks me that the tree couldn't be left alone because of what it is, a beautiful living thing, that sense just ain't there. The words that would have saved the tree would have been 'Please do not touch my property without my permission. Contact me through the agent first.' Of course, the agents have shown that they have all the sense of a mullet invasion across a football pitch.

One thing I have learned; be unreasonable from the outset. The reason it is necessary to act like a total breadhead is because people don't respect anything else.

I know. I am not being at all fair. Normal sense of proportion and perspective will be resumed shortly.