The weather has turned from wintry to warm and balmy in a few days and the trees and plants have responded. This time of year is my absolute favourite, when everything starts to burst forth in a riot of fresh green. The Wood Anemones are at their peak and the bluebells not far behind. Not all the trees are leafing up yet but the beech, hazel, elder, hawthorn and the cherry are providing a smattering of bright green.

First job was to fill a couple of trugs of logs for home. These are from the four year old pile I dismantled last visit and look grotty but they will burn fine. One of my neighbours had kindly allowed me to take down a couple of his small diameter larch to use for building projects. Larch is quite resilient to decay, unlike the sycamore that I have an excess of and which I have used in the past. It decays or gets eaten away after about two to three years. I drove round and selected two, fairly near the ride and felled them. All went well apart from the fact that the first one was already dead. At this time of year, the new leaves are only just bursting and because they are very tall, unless you take some binoculars, you can’t tell if they are alive or not. The only new growth is right at the very top. When it fell, the top several metres shattered. A pity because the the thinner upper part is the most useful for what I want it for. The rest wasn’t rotten though and will be useful. I cut them into manageable lengths and transported back to my place. Not a bad couple of hours work for an old bloke on his own!

The hard graft wasn’t finished though. I made a start chopping the fallen birch that I cut up a few weeks ago. It splits nicely and will make lovely firewood. I kept a few pieces for some craft work, which leads me to the next subject which I am excited about.

I have booked myself onto a four day event near Durham called the Northern Bowl Gathering. People will gather, mainly to work green wood into craft items. There will be several, experts giving demos and running short courses. Subjects will include pole lathe turning, bowl carving, shrink pots, blacksmithing and more. You can camp there and there will be food provided in the evening and the opportunity to sit around the fire, chat and maybe do a bit of whittling. I bottled out of the camping this time and booked myself a cheap hotel room! I can’t wait and will do a special blog edition of it when I get back.

I bought a new laptop last week and spent days trying to set it up and get my head around Windows 11. I’ve put off upgrading for a few years and was quite happy with Win 7 but it was time to bite the bullet. This post has been written using it so I hope it publishes OK.

I had a good walk around, just marveling at the beauty of a broadleaf woodland in spring. The freshness soon fades in a few weeks, so we have to take it in now. I’ll leave you with a few photo taken on my rounds.

My sleep pattern means I usually wake around four to five a.m. I toss and turn with sporadic naps until I decide to get up around seven. Yesterday was one of those mornings when I wake early and no more sleep is on the horizon. It was five o’clock and I just decided to get up, get ready and go. So it was a very early start at the woods. My nature encounter on the journey was almost a disaster. A male mallard duck plodded aimlessly across the road oblivious to any danger. At first I thought it was a wood pigeon or crow and would fly off but no, it kept plodding. My instinct kicked in and I swerved, probably the wrong thing to do at fifty miles an hour but it was automatic. I didn’t hear a thump so I guess it lived to see another day. But it does need to get a bit more savvy with traffic.

I had a list of several small jobs to do and because I was extra early, had plenty of time to complete most and still had time to just sit or walk about and observe the woods as they come alive once again. The wood anemones are in full bloom and the perfume from them drifted around. I hadn’t realised they had one, so I got down and stuck my nose into them. It was gentle and subtle and somehow seemed old fashioned, like a scent that a lovely old lady from my childhood might have worn. It filled me with a sense of well being, a tonic in today’s world of stress.

I set about my first jobs – rearranging some of the contents of the shelter to make more available space, then took a coffee break using my new little twig-burning stove that was a Christmas present. It burns very efficiently with virtually no smoke. This one works best by loading it up with short twigs packed vertically and fairly tightly, rather then those that require constant feeding. It then burns hot with no attention for a good fifteen minutes, time enough to cook something.

As well as the anemones flourishing, the wild garlic is really lush, beech and hazel leaves are starting to open and in the copse area, lots of tiny blue dog violets. I spent some time cleaving and rough shaping a chunk of beech wood that my neighbours gave me a few weeks ago. I am hoping to make a couple of rustic stools. The wood was really tough to split but very nice to work on with the axe. I took it home to continue working on.

The silver birch that I felled after the wind blew it over was still lying where I had cut it into log sized pieces. It needed shifting ready to split for firewood. That was hard work, moving a whole tree by hand in the space of half an hour is no mean feat for an old guy like me. I sat down for a rest and my friendly robin hopped around the new wood pile, searching for little tit-bits. When it had done it joined me for a rest. It landed a few feet in front of me as if to keep me company and just chill for a while. It didn’t move for a good five or ten minutes, just looking at me and quietly chattering, just like a human pal might do. These experiences are truly special and lift the soul.

I had fulfilled most of my tasks and before heading home, decided to take one more slow walk to see what was emerging in the hazel copse and this was when the surprise happened. There is a large open area where you can see the sky and as I looked up I saw a buzzard above me. I heard another calling and it came to join it. Then another and another and eventually there were six wheeling around in the wind, performing fantastic acrobatic feats in the air. I guess they are courting and looking for a mate. They came lower, just above the tree tops, then the finale. Two swooped down above me and into the trees about fifty metres away almost landing, then taking off again like jet aircraft. I could hardly contain my excitement and what a fabulous way to end my lovely day at the woods.

Yesterday’s nature treat on arrival, was a buzzard. As I drove up the ride it flew up from the ground and into a nearby tree. I inched forward slowly to get a good look and it delighted me three times, stretching it’s huge wings to fly a few metres and land again. They are impressive birds and it’s not often you see them so close. I have an idea to do a Springwatch type of exercise – find some roadkill and place it on a prominent tree stump with my trail camera to see what comes to feed.

My main mission was to fell the birch that was uprooted during the storms earlier this year. It was in a dangerous place where I work and ferry things back and forth to the car, so it had to come down. As you can see in the photo, it was firmly lodged between other trees and would need winching out.

It was still anchored by the roots, so the first job was to cut through at the base and winch it sideways to clear the root. Then a change of position to winch it straight out to a point where it would clear the trees it was hung up in and drop. Here’s the set-up. It worked but was much tougher than expected. I pulled it about twenty feet and the butt of the tree was almost up to the winch. It dropped but not enough and I had to undercut it several times and reattach the winch straps and pull some more until it finally came out. It’s all cut up ready for splitting for firewood but hopefully I can make a few nice crafts items with some of it. It was diseased but still very solid.

I spent some time just sitting in the lovely spring sun, watching the many small birds on my feeders. How perfect that was. Being in the moment, at peace and happy. I can’t help thinking about the massive contrasts in the world. There, nature is quietly getting on with simple daily life. These harmless bundles of feather just minding their own business, taking only what they need to survive and looking for a mate. Across the other side of Europe, a power hungry, egotistical pyschopath is responsible for the death and destruction of innocent people and their homes on a massive scale which will have a knock on effect for all of us. You know what I mean – enough said.

I had a few more small jobs to do – clear up the brash from the birch tree, repair the collapsed wall around my composting toilet, move some branches I had previously cut when felling and pot up a tiny yew sapling that was growing in the end of a small rotten log. I’ve brought it home to nurture until it’s big enough to return it to a permanent position in the woods. What a fantastically satisfying day. I’ll leave you with some more photos. The first is an old chair that has been hanging around my cellar for a few years. I had ideas of renovating it but don’t have the time, so I decided it could be a guest chair at the woods. I like to treat my visitors to a bit of opulance!

It was a lovely calm morning when I arrived yesterday and I was in need of some woodland therapy. Recent events in the Ukraine have bruised my faith in certain elements of humanity and a day on my own among nature is what I needed. My first dose of medicine was a magnificent cock pheasant ambling across the ride and into my plot as I drove up. It would hang around most of the morning calling out looking for a mate. I hope he finds one and they make beautiful feathery babies. My second dose was filling the bird feeders and seeing the dozens of small birds swooping in to grab a seed. Blue, coal and great tits, robins, nuthatches and the fashion icon of them all – a great spotted woodpecker.

I decided to spend the most part of the day working on improvements to my shelter. I have some old wooden ladders and decided they would make fantastic shelves for storing wood, the open character will allow air to circulate for seasoning the wood. It’s the first stage in tidying up the shelter and making it more fit for working in. It still looks a cluttered mess in there but much of the timber will be used in other projects before long. The big stump is a piece of beech which I will fit three legs to and make a carving/chopping block.

What about that title? Well, as I was working, several buzzards circled above me. Their call is the most lonesome bird call ever but one that I love. It’s unmistakable once you know it. A single, clear note that starts high and slides down to a lower harmonic pitch, like a slide lick in a minor pentatonic scale, much loved by blues guitarists. It is a beautiful sound but one that evokes a sense of longing and melancholy. I can mimic the call reasonably well and started to call back to them. Now I don’t know if it was my call that encouraged them to hang about – they came back several times and one even landed in one of my trees. More of natures medicine to heal my battered mental state.

I was given this ram’s skull by a friend. It looks a little demonic don’t you think? I’ve mounted it on the top of the corner post and it looks fantastic.

My other plan for the shelter is to build a shallow extension on to the end to store a stack of logs for use in my firebowl. It’s not finished yet, it will have a metal roof and another paneled end and maybe even a shelf across the middle. I think it will add character as well as being useful.

I saw nobody else that day. Much as I love having guests and chatting to other woodland neighbours, sometimes I just need some solace and being on one’s own in the woods brings you back to the moment. There’s no sense of loneliness, I am in the company of so much life in the woods. It’s like nature’s comforter blanket. It enfolds me, nourishes and lifts my soul. Can’t wait for the next visit now.

Three bad storms since my last visit and I needed to go yesterday to check for damage. I wasn’t too worried about the trees. Any that came down were probably weak or dead, I was mainly concerned that my new shelter was unharmed, it has withstood the winds well and no damage done. It was a clear sunny morning when I arrived but still a reasonable wind blowing that would put a hold on the prospects of continuing my felling operations. I had enough jobs to keep me busy and one of my mates was spending the day with me too. A walkabout revealed a small amount of damage, the worst being a dead birch that had blown over and got entangled in another tree. It was right between where I park my car and my bench where I have a brew and base my days activities, so it needs to come down. I think the safest and most effective way is to take the Tirfor and winch it out from the base. There is no chance of dislodging it by hand pulling or undercutting it to make it drop. It would simply hang there even more dangerous. We found another three small and dead trees had fallen, one had a nest box attached so that was re-sited ready for the nesting season.

It was one of those magical mornings, when the sun lights up the winter woods and the birds are out in force. Spring is definitely on the move. We hung out at the shelter for a while, discussing a few plans to develop it – an additional small roofed section at the back to house some of the large equipment and make room inside; a small log store on the end and some long shelves inside to store timber. This is phase two and I’m quite excited as it will take me closer to getting it functioning as a blacksmith and green woodworking workshop. The weak sun warmed our souls as well as our bodies.

We stood for ages in the hazel copse chatting and watching the various birds – a buzzard wheeled above then landed in a tree a hundred metres away. A jay with it’s beautiful colours passed through and numerous small birds flitted back and forth in the branches above us. A robin landed close by to check us out. We remarked how privileged we were to be amongst this beautiful piece of nature. This photo is of one of my favourite spots. Two ash trees and three hazels straddle the remains of an ancient ditch and bank structure which runs right through the woods. When the low early sun hits it, it has an enchanting appearance.

Our neighbours arrived to continue processing the huge beech they recently felled. We are hoping to get some slices out of it to make two or three stools but the trunk is so large and heavy that even cutting a slice to cleave into seat tops is a real challenge. The chainsaw bar is only long enough to cut half way through so I proposed a plan to cut half way down from both sides to meet in the middle, effectively creating a continuous cut that goes halfway through. Then using large steel wedges hammered into the open end, cleave the top half off. With a huge amount of brute force, the sound of splintering inside the trunk indicated that it was starting to split and eventually parted ways with the main trunk. I further split it down in half then one half of that split into two. The remaining pieces were still so heavy that they could only just be lifted. My friends kindly let me take some pieces, one for a chopping block and two to have a go at making some sort of rough rustic stools. They will be experiments to see how the timber can be worked and hopefully make some more refined stools later in the year. What a fantastic day.

What could that title mean for heavens sake? Bear with me as I relate my latest visit on Tuesday. I met with a pal to help me with some more felling but the morning started too windy to cut trees. There were still two on the ground that I cut last time but needed moving and stacking. That’s where the log dolly comes in. Some pieces I leave about four feet long and are pretty heavy to simply carry or drag along the floor. A log dolly is a sort of two wheeled cart for pulling them and I had an opportunity to make one. A neighbour down our street has been clearing their garage full of old stuff – tools, pieces of metal and all sorts of interesting junk. I bagged a pair of wheels and some old timber and set-to making one. It’s an experiment that might not work but worth a try. It looks like a Heath Robinson contraption but it works reasonably well. The balance point (where the wheels are) could do with being further forward to lessen the weight on the front and the addition of a bungee or rope to hold the logs in place as they tend to bounce and fall off. Here it is –

After using the chainsaw to cut up a few logs, it jammed. It’s happened a few times now despite a new chain and bar and it meant no more felling was possible. We spent our time usefully employed shifting, splitting and stacking logs for seasoning which is a job I tend to leave till spring but it was rewarding to get it all done in one hit. The new log pile for use at home is looking healthy and always gives a sense of fulfillment – rather like cooking and baking and filling your freezer or pantry (who has a pantry these days?)

So what about the reference to Narnia? Well I have often mused over the shift in perspective of my environment when I enter the woods. It’s one that is so radical. When I arrive and open the gate to the woods, I leave behind all the high tech world that we live in 99% of the time – traffic, industry, electronic gadgetry, tv, the internet, radio and the incessant bad news media we are pounded with. I enter a different world where virtually none of this is evident. It’s a small piece of natural wilderness where countless non-human lives co-exist in harmony. A whole different world just simply getting on with their own survival. Yes there are mini dramas – competition for food and mates, predators that will kill and eat others but it’s simple and natural and local. It’s a place where we once lived before we developed and over complicated our world. The gate is like the wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia. You step immediately from one world into another. It’s a magical world. From the outside, it’s just a load of trees to the vast majority of people. For those of us who are lucky enough to access and spend time in it, it’s a wonderful alternative community where, for a while, we can leave behind all the modern nonsense and rejoin our natural habitat. Sadly these places are disappearing fast due to human greed and over population, so we need to look after what we have left, nurture it and enjoy it while we can.

Spring is around the corner. Birds are getting more vocal, bluebell tips are pushing through the leaf litter and I saw a Red Admiral butterfly. I’m looking froward to a year where we can start to regain some fun and adventure after two years of confinement. I’m hungry for some camping when it warms up a bit. Sitting around a camp fire enjoying woodland tv and chatting with some mates. Bring it on!

What fantastic weather for a trip to the woods with my daughter yesterday after the gales we had the day before. Cold but sunny and very still and peaceful. There was plenty of small dead fall but that’s all. My shelter had filled up with dead leaves but everything was intact. A testimony to the building skills of my mate and I. We filled the bird feeders, had a walk around then coffee and cake. then it was time to get busy with some work.

My eldest daughter had asked if she could spend a day at the woods – it must be about three years since the last. Covid has sort of erased two years of our lives for much socialising and mixing so it was especially nice to pick her up, show her around the woods again and have some quality time together. I wanted to get some more sycamore thinning done before the bluebells and anemones come through and also thought it would be an interesting experience for her to witness some trees being felled. I picked a thinnish “easy” looking one and it fell perfectly as planned. The look of awe on her face signalled to me that she felt the exciting yet scary moment when the tree keels over and hits the ground with a thump – and that was just a small one. We felled two more – not so perfect, they got hung up but a sideways swing with a rope soon dislodged them. We cut them up ready for moving with my daughter operating the log roller which lifts one end off the ground to make chainsawing easier. I jokingly offered her the chainsaw saying “Now you know how to do it, go pick a tree”.

We broke for lunch, a lovely veggie and pasta soup and cheese sandwich she had made the day before. This is the only photo I took all day. She didn’t really want me to publish it because she said it didn’t look very appetising but believe me it was fantastic.

We had a walk over to a neighbour’s plot where he was felling some huge larch trees and we had a bit of a catch up, then back to mine to collect some firewood logs to take home. The day had gone in a flash. we paid our dues to the beauty and healing properties of the woods and headed home again. What a lovely day.

These tiny fungi growing on a dead twig are only about 5mm in size.

Yesterday it was mild and windy when I left home but as I neared the woods it had completely changed. Clear and cold and completely still. The sunrise is noticeably earlier now, Venus was bright on the horizon and I was looking forward to another great day at the woods. One of my woodland mates was waiting at the gate and we headed into my little patch. As usual we spend a lot of time chatting and laughing about life. Another mate had planned to come too but sadly he’s not very well at the moment.

The main task was to clear up the trees I felled last week. Full of sap still, they are very heavy but we worked well as a team and got the job done in an hour. It takes it’s toll on my aging body but strangely I enjoy it. The fact that I still have the strength to lift and move these heavy things, despite the aches and pains, is somehow satisfying and life affirming. Good honest physical work is good for body and soul.

My pal has acquired a couple of rams skulls – one for me and one for another friend who for some reason was wanting one. Mine will look great fixed at the top of my shelter support pole here, once he’s finished larking about with it.

There was a dead, narrow oak tree where my old shelter stood and I wanted it down for safety and to utilize the remaining tall stump as a leg support for a pole lathe eventually. It really needed two people to get it down without damaging the new shelter. We sawed it by hand and got it down OK. The top part is rotten but the bottom half is sound and dead straight so should be useful for something once I can figure out what!

We wrapped up the day with a short walk over to another neighbouring plot not knowing they were actually there working as well. Haven’t seen them for about a year so it was great to catch up and have a few laughs too. I love meeting other woodland folks, swapping stories and ideas, knowing that you can talk about it as long as you want without risk of them getting bored of it. We are a special tribe.