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.