After weeks of grey, wet and dreary weather, the sun came out yesterday and it makes such a difference at this time of year. My general mood is low these days but a day at the woods raises it for a while and the added bonus of sunshine was very welcome. A few weeks ago I felled a small diameter tall sycamore with a bow saw. I liked the idea but it didn’t cut well and after some research decided to buy a new one and give it another go. It was a big improvement. I picked what looked like an easy tree to fell but as per usual, it got hung up. A bigger heavier tree would have just brushed it’s way through the small branches that were holding it back. A rope around it and a pull sideways dislodged it straight away and it fell where I wanted it. I cut it into manageable lengths and carried it back to my base where I will use the chainsaw to cut into firewood sized logs at a later date.
It’s the middle one and you can see it’s snagged on the left hand one. The rope around it was then tied as tight as I could to another tree to the right, preventing it slipping down, then a couple of tugs to get it swinging and it was out.
It was time for a brew and I had intended using the camper stove for the first time. I’d brought a tin of soup for lunch and intended heating that on the stove too. I couldn’t get it to light, wondered if I wasn’t using it correctly. So what I should have done a long time ago, was check that there was actually any gas in the bottle! I had assumed there was and you know what assume does – it makes an ass out of u and me. Being in the woods meant I had other options but if I’d headed off somewhere for a trip and a hot lunch I would have been snookered. So it was a good exercise and a lesson in preparation. Lighting a fire is always a treat anyway!
Apart from a cheeky wren shouting at me and a robin that followed me around while logging, I saw nobody, but I never feel alone when in the woods. I am surrounded by life who I consider to be my allies. I’ve said it before, I become a component part of the woods, I am of the woods, an equal, no more no less than the rest be it a mighty beech tree, a millipede or a tiny mushroom. We are all connected across the whole planet yet mankind has, on the whole, disconnected and forgotten, placing himself above it and damaged and poisoned it. Watching a tiny bird foraging for food reminds me how we should be, just take enough for our needs and look after it. That’s my role in this tiny patch of earth, to do my best to look after it.
Apart from taking a few logs home I had no other jobs planned for the day so I spent some time just walking around, observing and letting the energy of the woods recharge me. A few more photos of this beautiful place –
A flock of gulls gently circled above me, mesmerising and peaceful in the autumn sun.
Two trees hanging onto a few leaves, glowing in the sun.
Gorgeous colours of sycamore and lime leaves among the brown oak and beech
Rosie Bonnet fungi
Diary of a man and his woodland 