Getting to the root of the problem (part 1)

As you may remember, the teetotal lumberjack came and chopped down our tree, leaving us with the stump to remove. Vappu (Finnish for Mayday) ie. the 1st. of May came about and it was decided to start on our great garden project. I was promised a bottle of Jameson if I had the stump out by Juhannus (Midsummer). So with the smell of our old School in my nostrils, I set to work. (If you're wondering what the heck I'm on about, Old Midletonians, of which there are four in the immediate family, know that their school is a very special place, for it is surrounded on three sides by the Jameson distillery, which has an unmistakable smell!).

Here is the stump close to - count if you want to know how old it is - it was here before the house! It's still very wet, because the roots are absorbing water all the time - no wonder nothing grew around it,
Here's the stump from a distance - doesn't look like much. (So said the captain of the Titanic...)Tentatively starting work:Finding the first big root. The whole time it was a case of: dig a bit (sometimes with the trowel), until the next root appears. Expose the root, chop it or saw it, and repeat. LOTS!

Taking a breather...