I arrived early this morning and it looked like someone had sprayed the woods with an atomiser. The faintest of wet on the leaves, that would evaporate in no time. It’s the driest and hottest summer we’ve had for decades. My woods are well drained and fairly dry at the best of times so it’s starting to worry me a little. Having said that the trees look in good health but much of the groundcover has wilted and died – apart from the bramble of course.

I had a few jobs in mind today. I’m planning a stay-over with some friends next month and we shall have a beginner’s blacksmithing session lead by my good friend and smithy – Simon. In preparation, I need to make a stump anvil. I have a 14lb potato weight which I’m told will serve as the anvil but need a stout stump to stand it on. It doesn’t need to look like a traditional anvil to be effective. Just something heavy and flat and made of steel or iron. There’s a big chunk of sycamore trunk that was felled over a year ago that I hadn’t got around to cutting up. So armed with chainsaw, I set-to cutting it up into suitable lengths. Surprisingly there is still a lot of water in the trunk due to it being left in one huge piece. The bark was peeling and as I ripped it off, I disturbed myriads of small creatures. Sorry.

Around the back of the logshed is where the blackbirds nest was. Four young birds fledged a few weeks ago. There are three more new eggs in there. I know some birds have a second brood and wondered whether they might return. Here’s the proof and once again, I’m so pleased that my human intervention is prooving helpful to the wildlife. Hope they can find enough food when they hatch.

Back to the anvil. The plan was to cut a depression in the end of the stump to sit the potato weight in (upside down). I’d hoped to drill out the bulk with a brace and bit but drilling into the end grain was hopeless. The screw tip on the bit just wouldn’t bite so I resorted to drilling lots of small holes with my battery drill then hacking the wood out with a chisel. I needed to go down about 2 inches which was a long labourious job.

And here’s the potato weight sitting in it’s new stump. The surface of the weight will need smoothing off to make it useable as an anvil. That’s a job for home. It even has a pocket in the weight that could act as a hardy hole (Google it). How cool is that? Can’t wait to have a bash at some hot metal.

Whilst I had the chainsaw I decided to cut up some more logs that have been stacked since last winter. The hot dry weather has speeded up the seasoning process already.

My neighbours turned up and L. (Mrs Neighbour) who loves chopping wood, ended up turning most of this into firewood sized pieces which I added to my growing new stack. That was an unexpected bonus. Creating a log pile is one of life’s unpublicized pleasures, therapeutic and very satisfying. Everyone I know who has done it agrees. It should be available on the National Health. Till next time.

The weather was perfect for another one night camping trip, this time with another pal – Phil who’s an expert bushcrafter and ex-chef. Sorry for the lack of photos, I brought the wrong camera so the few on here were taken with my phone.

I arrived mid morning on Wednesday, expecting my guest late afternoon. So I set to work removing the small brambles that had sprouted in my new tent area and clearing the paths around camp. I set the tent up and prepared as much as I could. At some point, I wanted to build a small saw horse next to my campsite log store from some plans I’d found in a book. I headed to the hazel copse to find some suitable poles. It was mid afternoon now and the birds and butterflies were abundant. Four or five wrens appeared to check me out, two of them being very brave and landing just a few feet away. There was a stirring in the undergrowth and blackbirds started to cluck and take flight. There must have been about a dozen in that area, a sign that they have bred well, close by. I usually see just the odd one or two. It suggests that the building of my deadhedges and various structures has paid off for the blackbird population. The mass exodus seemed to be away from the ride side of the copse and I wondered if someone was coming along. I saw no-one, picked some poles and headed back to camp. Half way back I heard a loud wooden knock, like someone at the door. I heard it again so I answered back. Silence. This smacked of Phil’s arrival and his wicked sense of humour. Somewhere nearby a deep ghost-like groan wafted across. Yeah it’s Phil!

I planned to do most of the cooking. I’m not a proficient cook and wanted the practise. Cooking for a chef is quite a challenge too. I planned a curried vegetable rice for the evening. I’ve done it hundreds of times at home in a wok but wanted to try it in my dutch oven on the campfire. Phil taught me a valuable lesson in fire management – controlling the heat by moving the embers around rather than raising and lowering the pot. It went well and this picture shows it simmering nicely. I love the pot.

We had an evening walk to the wood edge and watched numerous large dragonflies and on returning to camp, were rewarded with 3 or 4 bats flitting around the opening in the canopy, catching insects. Sleep was a sketchy affair, unable to settle into anything meaningful, I got up around 4.30am. Phil was still sleeping under the stars in his bivvie bag. Eventually he stirred and I relit the fire. Breakfast was a repeat of the eggs in beefsteak tomatoes cooked in foil that I tried when Simon camped a few weeks ago. Baked beans and bannock bread to accompany made a nice breakfast.

I packed up the tent and we took a walk to a neighbour’s plot (with his permission of course) where there is an ancient burial site. It dates back to the Neolithic times. It was excavated in the 1990’s and revealed the remains of four people. The numerous artifacts found as offerings suggests the deceased were of great importance. The Romans had also venerated this site and it was strange to imagine what it must have looked like 5000 or more years ago when a small river ran through and hunter gatherers roamed the woods. We climbed a forty foot tower the owner had built from his timber as a lookout and folly.

After a lunch of fruit cake and cookies, we set-to building the saw horse, it made a very sturdy and useful item.

We finished clearing up by late afternoon, another memorable mini adventure under our belts and lots of good memories to hark back to.

Just come back from a week in S. of France and the weather here is just as hot. It’s nearly three weeks since my last visit to the woods, so I needed to get back there even though the heat was putting me off. I arrived good and early – 7.30am.  I had planned to do little work because of the heat but the woods were refreshingly cool so I decided to do some more work on the shelter rebuild but first, a few small jobs.

I took several gallons of water to help my new saplings which actually seemed to be doing ok. Birdsong filled the air. A blackcap sang surprisingly loud for such a small bird. The young blackbirds have obviously fledged now and I’m sure I spotted a few of them during the day. I sometimes play a sort of trick on the wrens. I have a birdsong app on my phone and if I play the wren song, it draws them out. I was over-awed when one emerged and gradually flew closer to where I was standing, trying to suss out it’s rival. I was brewing my coffee but stood motionless as it bobbed around the table, finally landing on the top just two feet away. It strutted and pecked at the table a few times before eventually flying off. Money can’t buy that!

I added more upright poles to the shelter, ready to support the plastic tarp which should make the back and sides waterproof. Time consuming, as I had to walk to the other end of the woods to retrieve the poles that were left from the winter felling, then cut to size and screw to the frame. This is how it looked with it’s skeleton poles. Then at the end of the day with the back covered with tarp and another layer of poles. Just the sides to do next. I shall have to modify the window arrangement though.

The woods are a riot of growth now and I’m particularly pleased with the way the hazel copse is looking. Flooded with sunshine, the new hazel growth is shooting up and the ground cover is dense. I spotted lots of wild garlic seed heads and went to collect some. Most of them were empty now but I found a few which I shall try to germinate at home later. The bluebells were also shedding their shiny black seeds. Mental note for the future – collect them late June. I collected a few and scattered them in other less dense areas.

The birds and butterflies seem to like this area. A rustling in the undergrowth proved to be a song thrush which emerged on a branch to check me out. A large, bright orange, fluttery thing passed by and when it landed I sneaked up with my camera. A pair of butterflies were enjoying a bit of intimacy. Back home I identified them as Silver-washed Fritillary, the name coming from the silvery streaks on the underside of their wings which you can see here. The top of their wings are hardly visible in the photo but they were the most beautiful shade of orange.

By mid afternoon it was very hot. I’d done some useful jobs, had a good walk around and most importantly, re-connected with my woods. The calming and soul-healing benefits of spending quality time in your own little patch of woods is incredible. The difference between that or just visiting some public woods is huge. The fact that they are your woods allows you to work on it and with it, free from interference from public and authorities or any feelings of intrusion and that creates a deep personal connection with it which seems to elevate your mind and feelings. Medicine for the stressful world we normally inhabit.