The forecast was for an early bit of rain, then clearing by about 9am. Once again they got it wrong. Weather forecasters, who needs them? It was raining lightly when I arrived, I decided to don my incredibly waterproof ex-army Goretex jacket and carry on regardless. There were plenty of things I wanted to do. First job, fill the bird feeders and have a walk around. The wood anemones have come on a pace since last visit. Not quite at their fullest yet but plenty of flowers now. I was particularly pleased with the area to the N.E. where I have cut the brambles in autumn, thinned the sycamore and replanted. That area is coverd with anemomes which are clearly enjoying the extra light and moisture. This time last year, it was covered in brambles. I’ll have to try to knock them back again when they resurface in a few weeks.

My main aim was to make four rough benches and place them in various locations. I had two wide sycamore logs and a woodland neighbour had kindly sawn them lengthwise with his huge chainsaw to make four bench tops. I needed to find eight fat, short logs to make the “legs” and cut a V-shape into them for the rounded side of the half logs to sit in. The result looks decidedley like something from the Flintsones and although they are rather low to the ground, will function as something to sit on and spend a few minutes with a mug of coffee and enjoy the different views. I’m trying to add some extra interest to the wood and these will encourage myself and visitors to stop awhile on our walks around. Here’s the first one at the N.E. corner and note the addition of a “coffee table”.
And here’s the second one halfway down the eastern border which is a lovely secluded area.

Bench three is in the S.W. corner where the hazel has been coppiced recently. Quite an open area at present and lots of small bird activity here. No prizes for design or good looks!

The fourth one is where I usually base activities and have a brew. No photo of the bench but here’s my brew.

Next main job was to dig a hole and “plant” a stout log to act as a chopping block. I did have one already but it was wobbly and leaned to one side. Time to get a bit more professional and make one that functioned more efficiently. It’s strange how we sometimes plod on and put up with things that don’t work properly when a small amount of time and effort could make the whole job easier.

Now I could start splitting and stacking some of the many sycamore logs that were cut down in Winter. They need to be split to speed the drying/seasoning procedure over the spring and summer. My logshed is full of logs from last year for their final drying, so they have to stand outisde first. The idea is to form stacks between two trees. They act as end stops and when in leaf will keep some of the rain off. The resulting pile here doesn’t look much but it took a lot of work. Each log had to be handled and lifted a minimum of four times. 1 – load into wheelbarrow and take back to my chopping block. 2 – lift out and place on block. 3 – chop into four pieces and put back in wheelbarrow and take them to the log pile 4 – take them out and stack them. Now the obvious thing would be to have the chopping block and stack together to reduce handling but I thought the block would be most useful next to the logshed for the future. Might plant another one nearer.

Other activities included a walk around the whole wood with my camcorder so I could compare it with how it looked two years ago; cutting some poles to bring home to make a small rustic ladder; chatting to neighbours; playing with my trail camera (some results this time) and just enjoying the peace and wildlife. Many trees are starting to open bud and I leave you with a photo of a wild cherry tree I planted last year. It was one that mum paid for, larger than the usual saplings and one I am keen for it to do well. It has lots of buds that look like they will flower. Spring is here and it’s going to get very busy at the woods now.