This is a late entry as it was a week ago. It was time for another trip to my woods but having hurt my back badly a few weeks ago, it was just going to be a day of connecting to nature, lighting a fire, taking photos and some whittling. What could be better. Although Autumn is officially here and there some signs, the woods are still very vibrant and generally green.

It was incredibly quiet, few birds to be seen or even heard. Of course some have left for warmer climes and the rest have no need to sing so why waste energy and possibly attract predators. There are other forms of life to be seen,

The ladybird is hiding behind a birch polypore (razor strop or Fomitopsis betulina) fungus. Perhaps sussing out places to hibernate, though one with a spider web is perhaps not a good choice.

I had taken several penknives to sharpen and try out as whittling tools. My usual knives for wood carving spoons etc are fixed bladed and have a skandi grind bevel which is a wide shallow bevel and is the ideal one for wood carving. I wanted to be able to carry a legal folding knife that could be used for occasional carving but penknives are usually flat grid which have a very short and steeper angle. I took three different ones, sharpened to as fine an edge as possible and tried them all. There was a large one which was hopeless and it was the Swiss army small blade that performed best. The smaller one has a pointy blade which was useful for getting into tight corners like the cruck of the pickle forks. The twigs are seasoned hazel which made carving a harder task but I wanted to avoid later splits occurring.

It’s going to be a few weeks before I can go next and it will look completely different then. I will leave you with a few photos from this very green visit.