The weather has been grim this summer. I was hoping for a one night camp-over this week but yesterday looked like the only dry one. I’m enjoying a more laid back approach at the moment, making sure I do some fun/interesting/stimulating things rather than just essential jobs. A mixture of both is the key. It turned out to be a very interesting and pleasurable day.

I wanted to carry on building Champion (my shave horse) and needed some straight narrow logs to split down to make the arms for the frame part. I knew there was some more dead oak (same as I made the legs from) which might do. The outer is rotten but inside is sound. I set-to, splitting it using metal wedges. The resulting pieces looked OK but there was a lot of “wind” or twist which would make it difficult to work with.

I also knew of a small ash tree that had blown down in spring. I wanted to harvest the tree for projects anyway, so headed off to cut it up and split some. The pieces came out pretty straight so I’ll use that instead of the oak.

The woodland was very wet and big black slugs were everywhere. I came across a pair that were having a bit of “rumpy pumpy”. Slugs are pretty gross at the best of times but somehow they managed to out-gross themselves. Slugs possess both male and female organs and when mating, they fertilise each other. I watched for a few minutes and was surprised at how gentle and tender these creatures seemed to be, almost caressing each other in a sluggy, slow motion fashion. Owning my woods and getting close to nature has changed my perception of wildlife. We see some things as disgusting but really, that’s just superficial. Look beyond the outer appearance and there is beauty to be found. Even in slugs! Yeah OK that one’s going to take a bit of working on.

Whilst eating my sandwich, I heard a loud and constant chirping close by. A young wren hopped around me, oblivious to my presence. They don’t usually get so close, so it was a real pleasure to witness. A treecreeper crept up a tree (nice that some things are predictable in life). I played my birdsong app on my phone of another wren. It always works with these birds, they come out of the undergrowth looking for another bird. I took a walk around another area, at the far side of the wider woods. There, the trees are mainly evergreens – larch and Corsican pine. The feel is very different to mine which is deciduous. The pine trees are incredibly tall and there’s that lovely fresh smell. I heard two buzzards calling nearby. One was flying around but the other was stationery. I couldn’t see it but wondered if it was a young one still in the nest, about to fledge. I called back in my best buzzardy whistle-voice which seemed to invoke a response from it.

Returning to my plot, I stopped to sit in the hazel copse which is now very light and sunny. I sat quietly on the huge, felled, sycamore trunk just absorbing the beauty of the woods. A huge green dragonfly was slowly motoring around the copse, looking like an insect version of a sea-king helicopter. I read somewhere that if you sit still, they will often come to check you out. I was hoping so and it did, hovering several times a few feet in front of me before finally deciding I was too big to eat. I just love the way some animals and insects treat you as a fellow woodland creature. It makes me feel a part of nature and not apart from it.

Back to work on Champion. He/she needed to slim down a bit. I spent time with the axe, trimming the sides to a more comfortable and erganomic shape.

Finally, I got the chance to try out a cheap hammock that I bought a while ago. Sleeping in hammocks is a popular choice with wild campers. They are light to carry and quick to erect and some people swear they get their best night’s sleep in them. As a “side sleeper”, I doubt a hammock would work for me and I’ve never laid in one, so at £10 it was worth getting just to experiment with. My first attempt ended up with my bum touching the floor as the ropes stretched a little. I adjusted the height and clambered back in. It was easier and more stable than expected. I didn’t fall out once! Lying on my back, staring idly up at the trees was an incredibly relaxing experience, only marred slightly by the blood-hungry mossies that thought I was their dinner. I managed to envelope myself almost completely in the material. Better quality hammocks have mosquito nets to keep them out and I can see why some people love them for sleeping in but if you can’t sleep on your back, then forget it. I will use mine just to “hang out” in and enjoy some woodland R&R occasionally.

I finished the day doing some nettle pulling and spotted numerous cherry and hazel saplings, growing in an area that had previously been used for pheasant rearing and where there was virtually no undergrowth – encouraging signs. I headed home having had a fantastic day in my woods.