Photo above are the berries of Arum Maculatum aka Lords and Ladies or Cuckoo Pint.

It was almost four weeks since my last visit when I went yesterday. The heatwave kept me at home last weekend and I’ve been busy with other things and had little motivation to head to the woods. There are no particular jobs urgently need doing and hanging about in the woods when you are already lonely doesn’t feel great.

I invited my pal to come and just hang out for a while. He’s just bought an old Mazda Bongo camper and I was keen to see it and also thought it would give him a reason to take it out on the road and see how it drives. It’s not been fully converted with cupboards and sinks etc. It’s really like a mini bus or people carrier with multiple seats which slide and fold flat but it has a pop up top so you can stand in it and also a drop down board that acts as an upstairs bunk. I liked it and it’s perfectly adequate as it is for a few nights camping seeing as he’s a fellow bushcrafter and owns various stoves, tarps and camping gear. He will probably make some modifications when he’s had time to think about it and what he’d like from it. He’s named it Willie after his favourite country singer Willie Nelson. I hope to do an overnighter in my tent before long and probably my mate and Willie will join me.

The woods haven’t changed much since the last visit. Very dark and quiet. The trees seem to be bearing up well to the very dry months we have had but it was good to see there had been a recent heavy rainfall. My water butt was full to the brim after my last visit when I emptied it completely into the small pond. Wildlife was scarce but we spotted two roe deer, a tiny mouse and a buzzard. Little sign of other birds but they do go quiet at this time of year and I believe they start their plumage moult which impairs their flying and makes them more vulnerable to predation, so they tend to lie low.

This is the oak gall I showed you before. It’s starting to ripen but there was no hole in it yet so the small developing wasp is still in there.

I just love the visual beauty of gnarly old birch bark. It also contains a lot of oil and although the wood from birch rots very quickly, the bark can remain intact for years. This is part of a fallen dead one. The oily bark is great for tinder and fire lighting and much valued in bushcraft circles.

There’s not much else to write about this time but hopefully I will be making more regular trips to the woods now. Bye for now.