Tilleul of hope

This lime tree (tilleul) was planted between 30 and 40 years ago and was the pride and joy of our garden. It was all but destroyed by the storm overnight Friday/Saturday and when I first saw it in daylight of Saturday it was quite a shock. However our wonderful neighbour Jean-Claude (whose brother in law planted the tree in the 1970s) has helped with his chainsaw and we now have hope that this once beautiful tree will again be lovely, in time. He has helped me move all the branches today too, no mean feat, as this wasn't the only tree damaged chez nous. We had a lot of full branches of damson to pick up too. If I get time I may see if I can make some jam at the weekend. It has started to heat up again after a couple of cooler days, so it has been quite a tiring day.

The tilleul is a well known tree in France, being harvested in early summer for it's flowers for use in a herb tea or tisane which has sleep giving qualities. (it is usually mixed with mint) This is one lucky tree (!)