Catching up...

It's been a bit hectic the past couple of weeks, as work's been busy and we've had family visiting, so I've got a bit behind on posting photos up here. So, here's a round-up of some odds and ends.

A few weeks ago we found the culvert in the wood had got blocked again, as heavy rain had washed leaves and twigs into it:
This has happened before, but this time Tracy videoed me unblocking it, so here you go:

With all the rain and some sunshine as well, the fruit and nut trees we planted in November have been doing well, with many of them now showing blossom: Our crab apple tree has also come into bloom again, starting with dark pink buds that opened out into pale pink flowers: Down at ground level the bluebells are in full bloom in the parts of the wood with more sunlight, like this patch a neighbour owns: the flowers are slower to come out in the shadier parts of the wood. Near our camp, we now have several Violets growing - this is the first year they've come up since we coppiced there, and it's great to see them. They've been in the wayleave all along, so I guess the seeds have come through from there. My dad brought his "scotch eyed auger" with him to try putting some legs on our "shave log". It's a very neat tool, and you just find a suitable stick to use as a handle: It bites into the wood very effectively: boring out nice neat holes: Then we just had to cut some legs to fit: and we had it up on legs: OK, I know the legs aren't very straight, but I can always replace them with better ones later if it turns out to be a problem. I did a bit of work levelling off the the top of the log with a draw knife, and found it was at a good height for working. Meanwhile my nephew Joshua had a great time playing in the land rover: Here's the obligatory group photo of everyone - quite a crowd! and finally, some sunset pics from the garden of the house they rented while they were down here: That's all for now. Mike