Well with the spankingly good weather we're having at the moment I decided to make more of my daily wander on Sunday and have a wee fire as well.
I'm blessed with great woods on my doorstep so off I tromped up the hill behind the house where I had a wee spot in mind.
On approaching I noticed a lady at the spot where I intended to have a brew. Further out I saw a friend of mine and a gaggle of kids and as I'd just thrown on the first jacket to hand which is Realtree cammo I made myself known from a distance so as not to startle anyone. They looked up and still didn't see me 'till I started waving like a drowning man. I had a brief chat with them (they were having a bushcrafty kids birthday party and were also using a chainsaw to carve a seat for the birthday boy. (The estate lets the local families use these woods for the kids outdoor education). I decided to move on as I didn't want to crash the party and moved on to another nearby woodland clump.
At the entry point (There's an old sand quarry in there) some tyres had been dumped many moons ago and this lodgepole pine had grown up through one.
There was some fresh wind damage to the trees since my last visit so I had a wee wander 'round and found that some of the local Highland cows had gotten in through a damaged section in the fence.
Had a wee tidy up, (some kids had had a party here a while back and left a bit of a mess) and decided to have a wee fire and brew as it was perishingly cold.(Batteries soon died on the camera and I'd left the spares at home!)
While setting up I fancied a wee smoke and had some tobacco left. Keep in a Kendal mint cake tin, nice size and keeps all the accoutrements together.
Got out the firelighting kit and decided to use the Huddson Bay kit to make a fire and light my ciggy! (No fire - no ciggy, there's an incentive!)
Was looking all shiny as I'd been in a polishing mood the other week and buffed up a few things
.
Batteries started to seriously die at this point so I concentrated on getting my pea and ham soup ("...from a chicken!?") ready, was lovely on such a cold day. After my soup I had a potter and noticed that the elder has in bud which is nice for some flower cordial and the berries latter on. Made sure the little brew fire was out and tidied away and headed home. At the crest of wee hill I have across one of the local kestrels hovering in the buffeting wind. Tried to get the camera to take a decent shot but with the cold and the batteries I knew I was pushing it despite the raptor presenting itself quite happily.
One the way home I popped in to see a pal who'd been away fishing and had some surprises for me. A lovely sweet and sour fish dish from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem cookbook (was very yummy) and some reed heads for tinder. Good time of year to be collecting as they've been overwintered and come apart very easily - too easily as the explosion in a quilt factory of a house I'm now living in!
Nothing too strenuous but a nice wee wander about. Hope you enjoy?
GB.
I'm blessed with great woods on my doorstep so off I tromped up the hill behind the house where I had a wee spot in mind.
On approaching I noticed a lady at the spot where I intended to have a brew. Further out I saw a friend of mine and a gaggle of kids and as I'd just thrown on the first jacket to hand which is Realtree cammo I made myself known from a distance so as not to startle anyone. They looked up and still didn't see me 'till I started waving like a drowning man. I had a brief chat with them (they were having a bushcrafty kids birthday party and were also using a chainsaw to carve a seat for the birthday boy. (The estate lets the local families use these woods for the kids outdoor education). I decided to move on as I didn't want to crash the party and moved on to another nearby woodland clump.
At the entry point (There's an old sand quarry in there) some tyres had been dumped many moons ago and this lodgepole pine had grown up through one.
There was some fresh wind damage to the trees since my last visit so I had a wee wander 'round and found that some of the local Highland cows had gotten in through a damaged section in the fence.
Had a wee tidy up, (some kids had had a party here a while back and left a bit of a mess) and decided to have a wee fire and brew as it was perishingly cold.(Batteries soon died on the camera and I'd left the spares at home!)
While setting up I fancied a wee smoke and had some tobacco left. Keep in a Kendal mint cake tin, nice size and keeps all the accoutrements together.
Got out the firelighting kit and decided to use the Huddson Bay kit to make a fire and light my ciggy! (No fire - no ciggy, there's an incentive!)
Was looking all shiny as I'd been in a polishing mood the other week and buffed up a few things
.Batteries started to seriously die at this point so I concentrated on getting my pea and ham soup ("...from a chicken!?") ready, was lovely on such a cold day. After my soup I had a potter and noticed that the elder has in bud which is nice for some flower cordial and the berries latter on. Made sure the little brew fire was out and tidied away and headed home. At the crest of wee hill I have across one of the local kestrels hovering in the buffeting wind. Tried to get the camera to take a decent shot but with the cold and the batteries I knew I was pushing it despite the raptor presenting itself quite happily.
One the way home I popped in to see a pal who'd been away fishing and had some surprises for me. A lovely sweet and sour fish dish from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem cookbook (was very yummy) and some reed heads for tinder. Good time of year to be collecting as they've been overwintered and come apart very easily - too easily as the explosion in a quilt factory of a house I'm now living in!
Nothing too strenuous but a nice wee wander about. Hope you enjoy?
GB.
