What a gorgeous day to spend in the woods. It’s very dry at the moment, it was mild and still felt like summer was hanging on as long as it can. I took the chainsaw with good intentions of processing the trees I cut down but what I really wanted to do was pimp my shelter. I ended up doing no serious work and spent the whole day playing. Still hard physical work but fun. Up to now the shelter felt like somewhere to hide from the rain and I want it to feel more confortble and sort of homely. So the first job was to make a fire pit and light it. Because there are trees growing very close, I didn’t want to scorch the roots, so I placed a concrete flagstone as the hearth and some stones from home around it to contain the hot embers. It was a real joy to see the flames reaching up as I lit it for the first time and brought it to life. I had given my new campsite it’s soul, and I utilised it for a brew.
The trouble was, and gentle as it was, the wind was blowing the smoke right into my shelter so a lot of the time I had to sit behind the fire! I think the solution will be to build a small log wall known as a fire reflector behind it.
Next job was to find a place to stack some logs where they would stay dry. The sides are where I want them so they don’t take valuable space but the walls aren’t particularly waterproof. I fixed a cheap plastic tarp to the inside of one wall to keep driving rain out and built a small stack of logs. Started to feel more like home. Not that my main home is made from tarps and logs! But you know, sitting there in my shelter, with a fire going and the dappled sun coming through the beech trees, I felt truly at home. It’s hard to explain the feeling to someone unless they have spent time in the woods and felt the deep connection you get to it. I felt content and as if I belonged there. I could have just sat soaking it all in for ages without being bored.
The picture above means I’m going to have to replace the cheapo plastic tarp that is the roof. A small dead branch must have dropped last week and gone through it. I haven’t been satisfied with the roof anyway so I eventually replace it with some corrugated sheets which will be more resilient. Lunchtime came and I used the fire to heat up my can of vege curry. I shall be doing more cooking there in future. (Did that count as cooking – not really.)
Last time I was there, I spotted a “barley twist” ash branch growing in an area I haven’t particularly explored before. The twist is caused by a vine, in this case honeysuckle, that has grown up around the small branch and restricted it’s growth giving it this characterisitic shape. They are much prized by walking stick makers and are rare and hard to find. Someone once asked, “When’s a good time to cut them” and the answer was, “When you find one”. So I went back this week and cut it. I’m dead chuffed. looks like something Gandalf in Lord of the Rings might use.
I did a bit of foraging and this time I collected a hazel nut, an acorn, two conkers and seven sweet chestnuts. The chestnuts were still unopened (ha, beat you to it Mr squirrel). I don’t know if they will be viable as seeds but I’ll dry them and wait till they open to see what’s in there.
One of the last jobs was to move “Bambi”- the log bench I made a few weeks ago, into the shelter. It’ll keep it dry and will be a useful addition when I’m spending time in there. I didn’t want to leave, had such a contented and satisfying day and I can say my shelter is starting to feel more alive and workable. Bye for now.
