After feeding the birds I started the day in gully behind the yardarm to clear the wood pile that had a huge rohdie growing up through it. I anticipated a big and messy job but actually the wood was in much better condition than I expected, compared to some of the other piles that must date from the same time, and almost all of it was suitable to go on the log pile. Access is not easy to I picked up a few scratches from the rose bush but soon had it all transported down to the wood store and then chopped and stacked
Ant arrived not long after me and spent the day adding to the wood pile with smaller bits of dead fall and rohdies from up by the top shed, once he had filled a section he carried on generally tidying up up there
After the wood pile was sorted I dug up the rohdie stump that had been hiding under the log pile and then moved around pulling bracken, hopefully for the last time this year, from up by the pylon, over by the hive, in the wayleave and over by the dam. I had intended to clear some brambles by toad bridge as well but ran out of time (and didn't want to go on holiday covered in scratches again!)
An update on the oak saplings progress (coincidentally!) At the moment I think we have lost two of them, with a third looking very poorly. All three are up at the top of the wood by the cars where is is very wet (usually) and also very shaded so perhaps they were up against it anyway. The others are all alive and growing although you could not say they look bursting with health. But they do seem to have survived the dry weather. I had not thought there was much growth this year (although I have no idea how quickly to expect oak saplings to grow,) but looking back to when we planted them they are actually significantly bigger.
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| August 2017 |
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| Now |
Ant left around three and I took some time to just sit quietly under the Yardarm before I left too. Within a few minutes there was a constant stream of Nuthatches, Coal Tits and Great Tits as usual but also Forrest was busy under the stump, the woodpecker came in (to sample the trees rather than the food) and a young squirrel came down to help himself to the food right in front of the yardarm! which was a lovely end to a lovely late summers day in the wood.
