It was another beautiful, sunny and mild day at the woods yesterday. I had invited my pal Phil again to finish the shavehorse we have been building for his woods. Amazing how much the new spring growth has come on since last week. These are a patch of wood anemones in full flower and here’s the first bluebells to be seen. The floor will be ablaze with them in a week or two.

The birds were incredibly active, we spotted a Blackcap and heard the chiffchaff again, both summer visitors to the UK. Three Great Tits were squabbling over one of my nest boxes and Nuthatches called and zoomed about all day sporting their go-faster ear stripes. We spotted a bright yellow Brimstone butterfly in a clearing and knew the woodland had woken up from it’s Winter slumber. We both felt good to be alive and able to enjoy it.

We soon got to business at the shelter workshop to finish Phil’s shavehorse. The last phase was to make the swinging frame, drill the hole through the side of body, add a work platform and assemble it. The first slice (or scalping) of the log that made the body is covered in bark on one side and flat on the other. I was given this piece too and decided to make two rustic shelves for the inside of the shelter, held in place by simple dowels and some string to secure it. Whilst Phil was busy on his project, I plodded on to fit them. They will be very useful when I am cooking in there or just to pop small tools on, mug of coffee, camera etc while working.

I checked the bee colony in the Owl box and they were very busy indeed and in much greater numbers then when I first spotted them. They will be enjoying the abundance of flowers opening now – the anemones, bluebells, wild cherry, blackthorn, primroses and so on. Standing below the makeshift hive, watching them come and go and hearing the buzz around me as they passed by was uplifting. Nature all around me in myriad forms, a feast for all the senses.

Phil just needs to add a few small tweaks to the the shavehorse. After posing for the celebratory photo, he dismantled it and loaded it into his car to take to his woods when he goes next. He’s named it Ladybird after watching one crawling over it last week. We have fulfilled one of his modest ambitions, to have his own shavehorse and I am delighted to have helped him reach it. I hope he has many happy hours using it to make some useful things. I’ve really enjoyed the project, sharing the woods and workspace. We have laughed and chatted, putting the world to rights (at least in our heads) and just enjoyed the peaceful, healing atmosphere of the woods. Little by little, the shelter is coming to life too as we use it and leave our wood shavings as evidence of our presence. Reluctant to end the day, we packed up and headed off.

It was a beautiful early spring morning when I arrived at the woods yesterday. I had planned another shavehorse building session with my mate Phil and as usual he was already there at the side of the road, mug of tea in hand quietly observing nature as the car-coccooned workers passed by, oblivious to the subtleties of nature we were about to enjoy. Two grey herons flew overhead and pair of kestrels that had been perching above us, took to the wing. Already we were getting our fix of nature. A guaranteed remedy for the ills of the world that we are bombarded with every day.

A few days ago, Storm Gareth hit the UK and I had a message from one of the local woodland owners that one of my ash trees had blown over and was blocking the ride. Kindly, he spent some time clearing it sufficiently to restore access. I needed to make it safe and tidy it up some more. The inside of the tree was rotten at the base and had snapped off, taking with it a nice hawthorn and some hazel clumps. I left Phil at the shelter/workshop to work on his shavehorse while I dealt with the tree. The hawthorn was flat to the ground but the roots still half attached to the earth. Hopefully it will be able to sustain itself and send new growth upward. If it does, it will be an interesting feature.

I set about cutting the fallen trunk into moveable pieces. The remaining rotten stump will be left as a feature and for nature to claim as homes and food for the myriad life-forms that will inhabit it. Some of the good pieces will be useful material for woodworking projects. Re-purposing materials is something I try to employ.

Time for a break and Phil made us a nice fresh coffee in his cafetiere and we ate some of his Christmas cake while enjoying the mild woodland morning, listening to the birds, and watching a pair of buzzards effortlessly circling about us. We agreed “What could be better than this right now”?

Spring is definitely here. The birds are very vocal and earlier we heard a Chiffchaff, a tiny summer visitor that flies here from the Mediterranean area. Earlier I checked my trail camera which I’d left in a new location. It proved to be a good spot as you can see from this compilation of shots. I forgot to put it back in place so I’ll have a couple of weeks to wait for the next instalment.

I had a walk around and noticed the first wood anemone flowers and blackthorn blossom form the saplings I planted three years ago.

Phil made good progress on his shavehorse, shaping the sides and preparing the swinging frame that will be the crucial element for clamping your workpiece. We had a great day with the usual mix of nature spotting, woodland work and of course some belly laughs. Here’s Phil again, in his element.

I arranged to meet my pal Phil to start work on his shavehorse now that we had a nice larch plank. The weather forecast wasn’t great but we had the shelter to keep dry. As well as it being a place to get out of the rain, I want it to be a workshop for woodworking and maybe some blacksmithing, so it was nice to have a guest who could make use of it. As we stepped out of the cars, I could see Phil looking intently at something on the ground. It was a mole hill with a pile of poo on it. I would have assumed a walker’s dog had kindly left it but Phil identified it as fox poo. Apparently they will defacate onto a mound or high point as a way of marking their territory. Close inspection shows hair and small bone and what appears to be a tooth. A quick Google of small animal teeth likely to be it’s prey suggest it could be a mole. It might not be a pleasant subject but the implication of it for a nature lover is rewarding. We know I have a fox visitor from my trailcam shots but the territory marking suggests it is a regular haunt for it. If you find photos of poo offensive, look away now!

We had a walkabout noticing how much the ground cover is starting to emerge and a few leaves starting to open on some of the trees before setting up our workshop at the shelter and starting the job of drilling the plank with three holes for the legs. It had to be a hand drill of some sort and we opted for Phil’s large scotch eyed auger. It was very hard work and reminded us of how life was for wood workers before power tools.

Another nature loving woodland neighbour turned up and we headed off to see the bees in the owl box. No sign of them but I’m hoping they had simply hunkered down for the bad weather which was brewing. The bonus was spotting three roe deer running through the woods below us, they were heading for shelter under some large yew trees. We watched for a while then tried to get nearer. They must have seen us and ran off again.

The skies were darkening, the wind blowing and rain and hail came. We headed back to the shelter and three like-minded people chatted about woodlands, wildlife, bushcraft and camping for a long time as the weather threw a bit of everything at us, finally subsiding and letting the sun come through. A break for lunch in the warming sun was very welcome.

With the holes drilled, Phil set to work using my shavehorse to shape the ash logs that would make the legs while I started work on making a heavy mallet out of a piece of the hawthorn that had fallen a few weeks ago. We worked quietly, enjoying the sunny woodland setting and sounds of the birds – robins, nuthatches and the melancholy mewing call of a buzzard overhead. We were both in our elements. Phil demonstrates here how the shavehorse leg can double up as a false leg should he be unfortunate to lose one of his own.

As usual, time simply flies at the woods and before long it was time to start packing up. The new shavehorse now has legs. I was hoping we could have done a bit more work but for now it can keep mine company in the shelter.

The forecast looked a bit dodgy for Saturday, storm Freya brewing out in the Atlantic and threatening some possible rain and winds but I wanted to go and drop a few more skinny sycamore to leave on the ground for deadwood. The Bluebells and now the Wood Anemones are pushing through and they cover the woodland floor. So this was going to be my last session for the winter because I hate trampling on them. As it turned out the weather was beautiful for most of the day and as you can see from this photo of some very tall lime trees on my ride edge, the morning was clear and sunny.

First job as usual, check the trail cam. Not much – mainly grey squirrels but a nice shot of the fox and a couple of the hare, but hey what is this? Some guy in an orange jacket with a dog walking down my woods! I immediately recognised him as one of the other woodland owners, a guy I had met for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The next camera shot showed him coming back up. My shelter is at the bottom of the area so I figured he was simply being curious and came to have a look at it. No harm done so no worries but personally I wouldn’t enter another neighbour’s plot on my own without specific invitation and even then would be reluctant. Funnily, he was out later on in the morning with same jacket and dog walking along the ride and he stopped for a chat. I didn’t let on I’d caught him on camera. No point embarrassing him and causing friction.

I set-to with chainsaw and felled four more small sycamore, making a total of forty this winter. Most have been used as material for the toilet walls or cut into firewood sizes but a good number have been left on the ground. The area is now strewn with logs and trunks which will slowly decay and provide homes and food for all sorts of creatures and fungi. It also softens the rather manicured look of the plantation, adding some character and points of interest and a more natural look. It will soon fill out again. First the anemones, and bluebells, then the brambles and ferns and whatever else is waiting for the spring.

What about the bees in the owl box then? Well, when the guy from the woodland Trust visited a couple of weeks ago, he saw the box and commented that it contained a wasps’ nest. Although the box is quite high up, he could see the insects flying in and out. I was a little puzzled because as far as I am aware, during winter the colony dies off, apart from the Queen, who hibernates until spring then starts a new small nest, lays some eggs and it builds from there. Could it be bees? In the UK our wild bees are mainly bumble bees, the big round fluffy ones and mason bees which burrow into the ground. But it’s possible that a colony of domesticated honey bees had swarmed last summer and found a new home in my Little Owl box. With binoculars at hand I zoomed in on the hole which was a busy gateway of honey bees coming and going. Wow what a thrill – honey bees. I have no idea how long they are likely to thrive there as it’s much smaller than a conventional beehive which can be added to as the colony expands. There’s no way I am getting the ladder out to investigate but I’d love to see what it looks like inside the box. One day when they abandon it, I will get the opportunity but for now I am happy to leave them to it.

Another small bonus was finding a small bunch of wild daffodils nearby. That’s one of the joys of owning the woods and getting to know it well, there is always something new to find if you take the time to explore.

The recent warm weather has brought a few things to the surface. The first Ramson leaves (wild garlic) are poking through, as are Wood Anemones and nettles. Honeysuckle and Elder leaves are opening too. I had another urgent job to do, moving a couple of saplings. A small oak and a hazel that were growing in my camp area. I moved them into the clearing where the sycamore is being thinned. Another bonus find – as I dug holes to plant them, I found two acorns and a plump Sweet Chestnut which must have been cached by a squirrel. Well Mr Grey I have reclaimed my nuts which I shall pot up to see if they grow on. Thanks for looking after them for me!

Finally I have a very good friend who is desperate to make a shavehorse like mine for green woodworking. One of my neighbours has milled some larch trunks form his wood and kindly donated a beautiful thick plank for the project. I am hatching a plan to invite my pal over and we can start to make the shavehorse together very soon. Here it is resting quietly until then.