Still going for the last few days of 2014

Today we arrived at Rais late morning to tackle the tangle of bramble at the entrance which is to be our parking area.

before

after!

It looked a little daunting when we arrived, but nowhere near as bad as it would have been if we'd tried to clear it in the summer. First job of course was to get a fire lit so we could dispose of them once we had got them out the ground. Despite being covered in frost, the sun was shining and the ground not as hard as we expected, so most of the roots came out relatively easily.
By half two we had almost cleared the lot - the only worry I have is for the poor bunnies who had made their home underneath the bramble cover. There is naturally plenty of other places they can go, but I managed to destroy quite a few entrance holes with my size 5s (not to mention nearly breaking my neck at the same time!).
It was also a surprise just how uneven the ground was underneath - its going to need some serious leveling out before we can safely drive a car onto it. Raymond will be ok but there's no chance my car will get up there. A job for another day.