I had a nasty stomach bug that completely knocked me out mid week but still wanted a day in the woods. Still feeling washed out, I decided to take advantage and just get some respite and basically have a “play day” rather than do any heavy work. Weather was looking good too.
At my shelter I have a fox skull on one of the supporting spars as a souvenir. It had been moved and sat neatly in the middle of the tree stump I use as a chopping block. There’s no way it could have blown there and it amused me to think that some small creature had taken it there to investigate (most likely a squirrel). I often find these small signs of activity where the little ones have been playing in my absence. Reminds me of the childrens’ tv program The Flowerpot Men where they come to life and get up to mini-mischief once the gardener has left.
The shelter roof is a plastic tarp and starting to sag, holding water. I’ll eventually replace it with something more substantial but decided to try fix it. As I messed about with it, a robin landed on the side window opposite me, checking me out. When I eventually moved to the other side, it flew to the other window to have another look. It’s a simple act but one that gives me a great feeling of warmth and comfort. Most other wildlife are fearful of us and will flee when they see us. In a garden, it’s not unusual for robins to share their company but woodland birds are not familiar with humans, so it surprised me. It’s nice to know they trust us enough to get close. It’s the second time one has appeared when I was at the shelter, so I want to encouarge future visits. I moved one of the feeders to this location to encourage more birdy visits and plan to take some dried mealworms to offer robin should he/she return next time. It would be fantastic to get it feeding off my hand.
Time for a fire and a brew.
The pot hanger I’m using can be a bit fiddly and precarious. You stand the risk of knocking the pot off and dousing the fire. I do have the lovely adjustable irons that my blacksmith mate made but don’t want to leave them out permanently. I wanted to do some bushcaft things during my play-day so decided to make a more stable pot hanging system. Simple but effective and looks nicely rustic. I made some hooks from wire I had found lurking in undergrowth and a hazel branch. This will give me the option of hanging more than one utensil over the fire.
Earlier in the week I went to a Woodland Trust, volunteers induction day. I really love what the charity does. Basically they are committed to saving our ancient woodland in the UK. We only have 2% cover of ancient woodland left, the least in Europe. They sometimes buy up woodlands to protect them from developers and have been helping small landowners like me, with free advice on improving and restoring our old woods to a more semi-natural state. I wanted to give a little back and get involved. I saw a new opportunity as a Fixed Point Photographer. Basically you take photos from the very same position four times a year, recording areas that are being retored, in order to monitor the progress. It’s “right up my street” as we say here. It requires a GPS sateliite tracking device to get accurate map co-ordinates and at the meeting I was loaned one to be having a play with. I took it to the woods and walked the boundaries and paths. You can record your walk and set “waypoints” at specific places which will keep those co-ords. You can edit and name them so that later you know what they represent. I took advantage of the opportunity and recorded various features. I have wanted to make an accurate map of the woods but without a device like this, it’s very difficult to position the features correctly. So this might be a fun project during the winter evenings.
I had a lovely day which flew by as usual. I achieved a few interesting objectives that were a refreshing change from felling and chopping. Thanks for reading.
