Day two. I woke again around six. Packed up my sleeping equipment before running the gauntlet of assorted flies lurking in the tent porch and emerged into a beautiful woodland setting, just as I had left it. What an amazing experience that is. Like stepping through a universe portal. OK maybe not but certainly not my usual morning wake up routine. Just me and nature. Time for a coffee. Usually this is a two minute job but not today. First forage some more tinder and dead wood and light the fire. You start to realise why we invented modern conveniences. Not because lighting a fire to make a coffee is unpleasant, far from it, but it just takes so much time. Next job – well all I can say is that doing a poo outdoors surrounded by trees and birdsong is surprisingly pleasant. Just don’t try it in your local park though!

Day two was shaping up nicely as I fashioned a cooking grill from a cooling tray from the pound shop and two logs. Sausage, egg and beans and the smell of wood smoke – fantastic (do the eggs look like Pacman or a startled cartoon ghost?)

The rest of the morning was spent pottering, packing my tent up and keeping the fire going for lunchtime. Time for another coffee and a selfie. (If a bushcrafter has a great time in the woods but there’s nobody there to see it, did it actually happen)

Lunchtime arrived. A tin of soup and bannock! This time there was no sticky, stick routine. Slap the dough in the skillet with a little oil, pat it down and gently fry and turn it over. The result is a warm doughy middle and crispy crusty outside. The soup was forgettable but the bannock was a triumph. The job of keeping the fire going is pretty time consuming, mainly having to find dry dead wood and take it back. So to make future fire management easier, I built a small log store out of an old packing crate and a tarp from the pound shop. Budget building is also very satisfying. I stocked it up with some cut wood.

Before eventually leaving, exhausted (it’s hard work and little sleep) but immensely satisfied, I had a look at some of the bird nest boxes. As I approached one I heard a familiar sound of baby bluetits calling their mother. I was delighted to see a tiny head pop out of the hole as it waited for it’s next mouthful from mum. A little further through the wood and a woodcock flew out of the undergrowth. It had been sitting on four eggs before I disturbed it. Dunno who was most startled.

It has been a fantastic two days. I have learned a lot about my woods and myself too. It is something I will remember and look back on for a long time. Hope you managed to stay the course with me. The blog posting has been a mammoth one.