Sure enough it poured overnight and is still windy and rainy now. There has been a car smash up the road from me (police cars are lined up outside my house) and it is thoroughly miserable. I spent an hour outside weeding the leeks, then strawing them up, then strawed up the raised potato bed. To get to the potato bed I have to walk under an arch formed by a gigantic climbing rose.

I had just finished and gone inside when I walked past the living room, and saw something ‘not right’ outside the window. Ducked outside for a look and, OMG, the rose has been blown over! It must have happened just after I came inside. This is a reasonably big deal because it is a) so massive (it really is a medium tree) and b) it has taken a bit of the potting shed roof and guttering with it (not that worried about the last); and c) that would have done me some serious damage if it had fallen down while I was working under it.

But I can’t clean up this by myself. Looks like it will be a job for trusty Tony and his power tools from up the street – unless he thinks it might be too much, also! Here are a couple of photos. Apart from the guttering, I think that all the damage it has done is bury two pots of potatoes (they may have survived under the crash, they may not). Also, I know some blackbirds were nesting in the rose … sorry birdies …

Fortunately it fell into an open space. Gosh, won’t it be light and airy there once it is all cleaned up! And, gosh, wasn’t I bloody lucky it didn’t come down while I was working under it!

Here is the first photo taken from the laundry door (sorry about the quality, I was trying to take it between raindrops):

storm01

And from the other side.

storm02

I am a little heartsick about this as this was a glorious rose when in flower – it used to be literally covered with pale pink roses. Not this spring. :( Still, its trunk remains so I have no doubt it will be sprouting again soon. It will take a few years to get back to its full glory, though.