The sun was out and the woods are looking their very best right now. It’s my favourite time in the woods right now. Everything fresh and bursting with life. The leaves on the trees are still sparse enough to let lots of light in but just cloak the woods with bright, delicate green. The birds are plentiful and singing away. Yet it was a day that evoked a lot of sadness and questions about my future in the woods and other areas of my life. A sudden and devastating illness in the family hangs over me. My future visits to the woods will be less frequent, at least for the foreseeable future. Then of course we have the evil Russian president threatening WW3 and possible nuclear attacks. We can never know what the future will bring of course but we often feel that we do. We make plans and in our minds imagine us doing this and that nice thing. There are no guarantees in life and I have said many times that we have to make the most of it while life is good. In an instant our lives and future can turn bad and everything changes. Enough said let’s come back to the here and now and my day in the woods.
I needed to sort a few things out, logs to chop and stack, some pieces to bring home and hazel rods for possible craft projects. I wrote in my last blog about the larch trees my neighbour had kindly allowed me to take for a number of building ideas I had. I was keen to have a go at cleaving (splitting) some of them to use as smaller posts and timbers for a log shed and other structures. I’ve been told that larch can’t be split because there are too many side branches (knots) running through that tend to prevent splitting but I had to try it for myself. The technique is to drive a couple of steel wedges into one end across the centre line. It will start to open up, then you drive another wedge into the crack in each side which opens it further and you keep moving along the slowly lengthening crack with the wedges. It tears the fibres apart and eventually you get to the other end and the log will be split in two. You can then do the same thing with the two halves to make quarters. It was tough going but they did split and in relatively straight lines making some useful pieces. I tried it again on a couple more longer pieces and was pleased with the results. They are very ragged compared to some types of trees but I now know you can cleave larch.
I completed my list of jobs and took plenty of time out to walk around and absorb the incredible peace and beauty of this lovely place, helping to calm the storm that is raging in my life right now. As I walked, I spotted a shape high up in a tree that was clearly an owl. I have only seen one in the woods on a couple of occasions and never in daylight. Excitedly I crept as quietly as I could through the undergrowth to get as close as possible, taking photos with every few steps in case I disturbed it and it flew off. I wasn’t close enough to tell what it was. It looked smaller than a Tawny but bigger than a Little Owl. It appeared to be sleeping in the dappled sun and no sign of it taking off. When I zoomed in, it appeared fluffy and very light coloured. It’s a baby and I reckon only just fledged. I think a Tawny. What a thrill it it was and a very memorable visit. I hope with all my heart that the future will be better than it seems right now and I can continue to enjoy and share the woods with you for years to come. Take care and make the most of what you’ve got.
Diary of a man and his woodland 
May 1, 2022 at 12:13 pm
What a wonderful sighting of the owlet David. We spotted two otters playing in the rocks this morning.