I debated whether to go as it had forecast some rain in the morning. I try to choose dry days just so I can get plenty done. I’ve had the odd small shower but not been yet when there was a decent amount of rain. I took a small tarp (like a flysheet on a tent) so I could stay dry when it did rain. It’s not an ideal type or size for my needs but I bought it when it was on offer and I didn’t know it would be fairly useless. It’s more of a porch for a small tent than a proper tarp or basha that bushcrafters use. It has a pole at the front to support it and no ridge loops to hang on a line. I fixed it up and put my cheapo plastic garden chair under it that I bought from Home Bargains for £5.99. Not exactly what you would expect a bushcrafter to do but hey, I’m no spring chicken and when you’ve just sawn up a whole tree and your back is aching, you need a modicum of comfort. Well plan A didn’t work. The tarp was so low I had to sit hunched up like Quasimodo.

Tarp Plan A with the provided pole which is too short

Tarp Plan B with hazel poles to raise it higher. This is the rear view. Just big enough to keep the rain off.

So plan B was to find some longer hazel poles with a Y fork in them to replace the front one and add another to the back. Much better, I could sit on my luxury chair now. The tarp is quite wide but pretty short so only just big enough to keep the rain off but it worked and I made myself a brew on my home made hobo stove. It’s a stainless steel kitchen utensil holder (Home Bargains again) with a window cut out of it to feed sticks into and a couple of 6 inch nails through the holes to hold my billy can. Works a treat. I leave it in a bucket in my logshed. When I got it out, something had started to make a nest in it. Cheeky blighters! I think it might have been a robin or wren that had decided it wasn’t such a good idea after all and abandoned it.

Home made hobo stove.

The growth of vegetation has been phenomenal in the last few weeks. The area where game birds were reared previously, has lots of tall nettles and other plants now. They weren’t evident last year so the land is starting to regenerate. I don’t particularly want a load of nettles but they are essential breeding habitats for many butterflies. Nettles can be used for making beer and cooked and also making cordage from the stems so eventually I might try my hand with them. I had to do a bit of gardening around my new trees so they don’t rob them of too much light and water. There was a bit of a surprise too. I had used fresh cut hazel poles as stakes for the tree guards when I planted them in winter. Some of them have started to sprout new shoots! When you cut a reasonable sized pole or branch, there will be some residual energy in the bark and underlying tissue that can keep the piece alive for a while so at this stage I don’t know if the poles have formed some roots or just living off this energy. I’ll leave them until autumn and if they are still growing, I’ll carefully lift them and plant them as young trees elsewhere – nice bonus.

Hazel stake with new shoots. Will it take root and provide a new tree?

Between showers, I cut up a large windblown sycamore. It was already down when I took ownership last year and I had hand sawn small logs from it for the wood stove but the main trunk needed a chainsaw. So a backbreaking half hour with my machine soon sorted it out into nice logs ready for splitting. The logs will already be pretty well seasoned and just need some final drying after splitting, a satisfying job done.

Sycamore logs ready for splitting and drying.

Finally, an old friend. Whilst weed clearing I kept getting a wiff of something unpleasant, a sort of gassy smell. I remembered the same smell from last year and as I was in the same area that I found the stinkhorn funghi, I wondered if there was one nearby. A few minutes searching found the culprit. Here it is in all its upright glory!

Stinkhorn funghi

First use of my chainsaw.

My latest visit on Thursday was a busy and tiring one. There were two main objectives I wanted to achieve. Suss out and use my chainsaw for the first time and cut up and store some of the long logs lying around from my coppicing and felling last winter. I bought the chainsaw last year. I didn’t have my felling licence then so there was no hurry to use it. To be honest I have been a bit scared of it (not a bad thing). They are lethal devices and have caused many serious injuries and need to be used with the utmost care. The worst story I have heard of was of a man using one in his garden trimming a tree whilst up a ladder. His wife was below watching. The ladder slipped and he fell backwards and decapitated his wife! Does that evoke a feeling of horror or make you want to laugh? Both for me – now isn’t that a weird contradiction of emotions? So being alone in my woods with this thing was something I have been putting off. Like anything else, there is a learning curve before you become confident and the only way to gain confidence is to do it. I need to start stacking and drying logs for winter so it was time to get to grips with it. Training on chainsaws is phenominally expensive but I bought some good safety gear to minimise the health risks. I read up, studied videos etc on how to use them and treated it with the cautious regard it deserves. All went well, the machine cut through those logs like butter. I split quite a number of then with my other new tool – a fantastic Fiskars X25 axe. At the end of the day I had a nice big pile of logs stacked in my crates and log shed… and an aching back.

Logs crated up for seasoning

Pile of birch logs ready for splitting

Although most of the day was spent working, I took some time out walk around to look at things. Two of my bird boxes that had young ones in, have now been vacated. There is a hole in a tree trunk where I found a nest last year. Last time I visited, their were 8 eggs and the parent sitting on them. Well this time I was pleased to see there are 7 tiny birds which look a few days old. If you look at the photo you can see the eighth bird didn’t survive, it’s the pink one at the front. Usually the parent will dispose if them. I think they are Great tits but I need to see the parent to verify.

Seven hungry little birds

I checked another box. This is a puzzle. It has one egg and an untidy nest. Is it an abandoned nest that didn’t get completed or have the brood fledged and left and this might be an infertile egg left over?

Abandoned nest?

Here are some other photos I took. This brightly coloured insect is aptly named Wasp Beetle. It lays it’s eggs in rotting wood. Probably disturbed it whilst sawing some dead birch logs.

Wasp beetle

I’m not sure what this little flower is yet but it’s such a lovely photograph of it that I had to include it.

What is it?

Finally I found this cute (or is it?) ladybird. We all find these little beetles a sight to enjoy. But look how many spots it has. It’s a Harlequin ladybird. Originally from Asia, it was introduced to North America and mainland Europe as a means of controlling aphids (they eat them). But it has found it’s way to the UK and devours our own native species. Another example of man’s intervention with nature and how it can backfire and upset the natural ecology.

Harlequin Ladybird

One last word. I have had some very nice feedback and compliments on this blog suggesting that quite a few people are enjoying reading it. When I started it, it was mainly as a record for myself and a means of showing a few friends what I have been doing. It gives me a warm feeling to know that my little wood is bringing a bit of pleasure to other people too. So thanks to all of you for taking the time to read it and your kind words.