Enjoyed another great day out in the woods today, had my old mucker Hugo along, Rockmonkey was supposed to be with us, but he has caught the dreaded lurgi, so we didn't let him come out to play.
We decided another long bimble was in order, we followed more or less the same route as we took last Friday as it's a nice walk through the countryside, with a few bits that draw a sweat and make you puff a bit, still a nice walk though
So to the pics then, anyone for a steak?, lots of Sussex Reds around here these days, nice to see these breeds making a comeback at last.
we stopped on the way up the hill for a brew after which we headed up slope and found a nice spot to stop for a bit of lunch in the trees,
i set my sit hammock up, whilst Hugo used his new and very flashy Canvas covered sit mat
the woods
I figured it was about time i had some Erbswurst that a friend of mine in Germany sent over a few weeks back, it's dehydrated Pea & Ham soup, originally developed for the Franco/Prussian war, and no, this stuff is not that old.
So i boiled up some water, put a block of the Erbswurst in the bowl and added hot water, but then i realised i had forgotten my spork, so i no choice but to carve some chop sticks
as you can imagine using chop sticks to eat soup with is not easy, so thank gawd i know how to carve spoons - phew, was a close call, i can tell you
The Erbswurst is pretty tasty, albeit a little too salty for my personal tastes, but it does have a nice smoky bacon flavour and when added to other things, will make a fine base for a meal i think.
Now speaking of spoons, we did of course have to do some carving to keep those skills alive, don't want to be getting rusty do we?
Hugo's
and mine, i only carved the one spoon blank as i was concentrating on getting my chop sticks nicely balanced
Hugo's new knife, his Big Whittler, like a razor blade this thing
after lunch we headed back up trail a bit and along the top of the Downs
Past the Ewe's and their Lambs, just as well RockMonkey wasn't with us, he gets a bit excited when he sees the ladies
quick look south
Cissbury Ring Iron Age Fort & Neolithic Flint Mines in the distance
Over the downs
Looking out to Sea
Back into the woods and past some Early Purple Orchids, lovely to see and there seems to be a lot more than normal this year
the site of needless destruction by Mountain Bikers making unauthorised jumps and banks, why cut a tree down, take one section out and leave a 3ft stump and the rest of the tree hanging in mid air? - senseless vandalism
coming back now via one of our carving spots, btw RockM, the wood pile is exactly as we left it.
then we headed up top the area fondly known as 32C, where we find this burly Field Maple
Heading towards our spot at 32C
where we find Rockmonkey's seat is all overgrown due to lack of use
we had another good brew up here, before we finally headed up and out and back towards the cars, taking in some spectacular scenery on the way.
another superb day with superb company, just need to get the third member of the group over his lurgi and back out into the fresh air.

We decided another long bimble was in order, we followed more or less the same route as we took last Friday as it's a nice walk through the countryside, with a few bits that draw a sweat and make you puff a bit, still a nice walk though
So to the pics then, anyone for a steak?, lots of Sussex Reds around here these days, nice to see these breeds making a comeback at last.


we stopped on the way up the hill for a brew after which we headed up slope and found a nice spot to stop for a bit of lunch in the trees,

i set my sit hammock up, whilst Hugo used his new and very flashy Canvas covered sit mat

the woods


I figured it was about time i had some Erbswurst that a friend of mine in Germany sent over a few weeks back, it's dehydrated Pea & Ham soup, originally developed for the Franco/Prussian war, and no, this stuff is not that old.

So i boiled up some water, put a block of the Erbswurst in the bowl and added hot water, but then i realised i had forgotten my spork, so i no choice but to carve some chop sticks

as you can imagine using chop sticks to eat soup with is not easy, so thank gawd i know how to carve spoons - phew, was a close call, i can tell you

The Erbswurst is pretty tasty, albeit a little too salty for my personal tastes, but it does have a nice smoky bacon flavour and when added to other things, will make a fine base for a meal i think.
Now speaking of spoons, we did of course have to do some carving to keep those skills alive, don't want to be getting rusty do we?
Hugo's

and mine, i only carved the one spoon blank as i was concentrating on getting my chop sticks nicely balanced

Hugo's new knife, his Big Whittler, like a razor blade this thing

after lunch we headed back up trail a bit and along the top of the Downs

Past the Ewe's and their Lambs, just as well RockMonkey wasn't with us, he gets a bit excited when he sees the ladies



quick look south

Cissbury Ring Iron Age Fort & Neolithic Flint Mines in the distance

Over the downs

Looking out to Sea

Back into the woods and past some Early Purple Orchids, lovely to see and there seems to be a lot more than normal this year

the site of needless destruction by Mountain Bikers making unauthorised jumps and banks, why cut a tree down, take one section out and leave a 3ft stump and the rest of the tree hanging in mid air? - senseless vandalism


coming back now via one of our carving spots, btw RockM, the wood pile is exactly as we left it.

then we headed up top the area fondly known as 32C, where we find this burly Field Maple

Heading towards our spot at 32C

where we find Rockmonkey's seat is all overgrown due to lack of use


we had another good brew up here, before we finally headed up and out and back towards the cars, taking in some spectacular scenery on the way.


another superb day with superb company, just need to get the third member of the group over his lurgi and back out into the fresh air.
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