Yesterday was going to be a day for getting things done. It was cool and quite windy, a definite feeling of the approaching Autumn was evident. I got straight into some heavy work. The new “toy” is a vintage anvil I bought from a neighbour. Regular readers might remember I’ve had a few blacksmithing sessions with one of my good friends and it literally fired me up to acquire some basic equipment and set up a work station in the woods. I have no room at home for it and my neighbours wouldn’t be too happy anyway! I have most of the tools needed but was short of an anvil. You can use other big flat lumps of metal but I really wanted a proper vintage anvil. Purpose made for the job and such a cool, iconic shape. Sadly, many of these things end up as garden ornaments which seems like sacrilege to me.

The opportunity arrived and I bagged myself a very nice small to medium sized one, almost perfect for me. Well it is perfect apart from the fact that it is a lot heavier than I expected. The size to weight ratio is deceptive. This anvil weighs in at 120 pounds (approx 55 Kg) and I can barely lift it, so getting it out of the car and moving it to a safe place on my own needed some clever methodology. I took a tip from the building of Stonehenge and the pyramids, using logs and a plank as rollers. Here it is sat on a stump so I could clean and oil it. I will make a bigger stump to mount it on permanently. I’m liking the sight of an anvil in my woods already and quite excited at the prospect of making some nice forged items.

Here it is after a clean up with a wire brush and a rub down with engine oil to prevent it rusting. It’s in good condition for an old anvil, just a few small chips on the shoulders but a very flat top face. Total length is about 56 cm.

I’m planning to extend my shelter with a tarp to make a working area for it. The shelter was originally dual purpose – a place to get out of the rain and a green woodworking place. I can’t decide whether to use it for the blacksmithing now and put the shave horse and other items under the extension or the reverse, so I spent some time measuring up the shelter, drawing a plan and just sussing it all out. Still haven’t decided, this is how the shelter area looks at the moment.  I’m favouring adding the extension to the left where the logs are now. The tree can be used as an anchor point but another option would be to extend it at the front but that would be more visible from the main ride (track) in the wider woods.

The other back-breaking job was to move a large number of logs that were seasoning in various areas, up to the ride edge ready for removal. Many trips with a wheelbarrow and the pile is looking good. I’m feeling the results of that in my muscles this morning but it’s a satisfying kind of tiredeness. I hate the idea of working out in a gym along with a bunch of sweaty blokes but lugging heavy logs around a wood achieves a similar workout and is way more enjoyable.

I had a couple of hours left of the day just to enjoy it and took a long walk around and sat and watched the birds on my feeders. From total silence and no sign of life to a hive of activity is heart warming as they fly in an out. Top of the pecking order are the nuthatches. The various tits scatter when they land but return quickly as soon as the nuthatches leave.

I’ll leave you with a photo of a cool looking insect. I believe it’s a Common Green Shieldbug.

Seems a long time since last visit – it was two weeks, though the last post was about 4 weeks ago. Nothing much to report on the last one. Well on Saturday I arrived early, took my usual walkabout and it was eerily silent, hardly a bird to be heard or seen. In fact I started to feel somewhat lonely. The pandemic has given me a lot of anxiety and fears for the future and often leaves me with a feeling of isolation. Not uncommon among many folks and nothing much we can do about that. Visits to the woods really helps me but I didn’t get the usual feeling of euphoria when I first arrived.

I had decided to do some more improvements on my camping area and sat for a while on the bench. I put some bird food out but no visitors came – they are usually there within minutes. So I left and carried on with my work in other areas, made a coffee and returned to sit while I drank it. At first there were no signs that birds had been to eat any food and I started to feel they had deserted my patch, maybe because I had stopped feeding through the summer. A tiny Coal Tit arrived, took a seed and flew off. Then slowly more birds came – Bluetits, Great Tits, several Nuthatches and Robins. My heart lifted and lightened. A squirrel walked down a small tree just a few metres away with a huge acorn in it’s mouth. It paused, checked me out and carried on it’s way. A flock of Long Tailed tits flew in and out of a nearby Elder tree. A tiny Tree Creeper was, well, creeping up a tree! Suddenly the area was full of life and animal activity. It was like a scene from a Disney cartoon. I no longer felt lonely and I felt blessed to have their company.

I got going with the metal detector and found some odd things. Some small, woody, nut-like objects were registering. Puzzled, I pulled one apart to find a flattened air gun pellet. I’m guessing they hit a log which later rotted away, leaving a coating of the wood around the pellet. Nearby was a tiny feather from a Jay. This has to be one of the most beautiful feathers I have seen (teaspoon just for scale). I wouldn’t have found if I hadn’t been detecting!

The next nearby signal got me excited. As I brushed the top soil away, a large flat metal object appeared which was firmly embedded in the earth. Looked like a container of some kind. Maybe someone had buried it to hide something valuable? My mind was going crazy at the thought. I eagerly dug around and pulled it out it to reveal what looked like a baking pan! All that was in it was soil and a large worm. I put two and two together. It had been fixed on a stump and used as target practice, hence the nearby pellets.

Other finds included some old tree straps with brass buckles, an electrical earthing clamp, a nail, a nut, some shotgun cases and something tiny as yet unidentified. Nothing of any monetary interest but interesting to see what’s lurking below the surface. One day eh?

It’s that time of year when fungi are emerging again. This one is unusual in it’s length of stem, no idea yet what it is. Can’t wait for my next visit now.