Yesterday I just wanted to spend some quality time in the woods. It’s the absolute best time of the year for me. Everything fresh and bursting into life and I missed out on this last year. I’ve booked to go away for another wood craft themed course next weekend so it would have been three weeks between visits next time and I didn’t want to lose out again. I spent a good long time simply walking around with my camera, here are a few photos from the shoot. Below are the flowers of a young Rowan or Mountain Ash

An oak leaf just opened.

Wild garlic or Ramsons in flower. A few years ago I transplanted a small clump of these from another area in the woods to a few places where there were none at all and they have done really well, spreading and creating new clumps from the seeds. They are one of my favourite wild plants.

I had nothing much in mind job wise other than to bring logs home to start filling the store ready for next winter and suss out a few projects. I think I need to build another extension to the one at the woods to store next winter’s felling so I have two years worth continually being seasoned. I haven’t decided how or when yet. I did a few other maintenance jobs, some of the trees I planted a few years ago needed new stakes to support them. I took the rare occasion to leave my woods and walk around the nearby rides just to see what other developments were in flow. This shot is a nearby plot which is almost exclusively beech. The tall strong trunks create an almost cathedral like vibe.

On my way back I met some neighbours I hadn’t seen for a long time. It was great to have a good catch up. There’s not much else to tell so just a few more photos and I hope you have enjoyed seeing them.if there are woods near you, get out and enjoy the spring growth, it will soon morph into a darker and less vibrant looking place as the the canopy closes over for summer.

Loads of these big black slugs around after a night of rain. In the garden I would be concerned but in the woods they are part of the vital ecosystem of breaking down materials and recycling the nutrients.

I think this is one of the solitary bees