Yesterday was another day of hard work. I want to get the felled trees off the ground before the bluebells and anemones burst forth. Spring is definitely on it’s way, some leaves are opening now, this is hazel.

This is Dog’s Mercury emerging, the Wood Anemones aren’t showing yet but the bluebells have been poking through since January but they will get overtaken by the anemones when it comes to flowering time.

There was still a tree and a half to cut up with the chainsaw and I just managed it on a tankful of fuel. The next arduous task was to load them into a wheelbarrow and move them about fifty metres back to the logpile for splitting and stacking – about eight trips.

Time for a coffee break and to watch the birds on the feeders. Below is a Nuthatch

A Coal Tit just departing with a seed to find a safe place to eat.

A Bluetit taking a seed.

Back to work, chopping and stacking the logs. People comment on how neat my log pile is. That is just a by-product of building a stable pile when it’s high. If you don’t, then you find it collapsed one day because a squirrel has run over it. It’s a bit like dry stone walling. I take my time, picking up three or four logs then assessing how best to place each one. I build like Jenga trying to make sure the middle log is narrower than the two outside ones so the next layer doesn’t rock and if possible, slightly tilted inward or backward. It is a very mindful activity too and a sort of work of art. Instead of a tiring chore, it becomes a pleasure and concludes with a satisfied feeling that you have filled your store for a winter’s worth of warmth and created something pleasant to the eye.

Hopefully my next visit will finish the chopping and stacking and I can move on to some other tasks, like cleaning out the bird nest boxes, they will want to move in soon. I’ll leave you with a this photo of woodland loveliness.