S0, What’s Been Happening?

It seems like this has been a long holiday break. I haven’t ventured too far from home but I’ve managed to get a few days in the woods.

On boxing day I managed to stalk up to a small herd of fallow. There was an annoying open patch of ground which stopped me getting closer and had to be content with quite a long shot of a three or four year old buck, laying down ruminating and watching over his does.

Most of the time I was content with just wandering along the fields picking up a few tracks. This is a nice brown hare print…

..and a badger.

I’ve had some fun with Mrs P’s camera I bought her for Christmas. She left it on the dining room table when she went for a bike ride, so I snaffled it up and had a play! It’s got a pretty good macro and zoom function.

And the sports burst shot is also very good. Notice Billy’s right rear leg in pics 5 and 8 as he goes into a rotary gallop. I gave the camera back when I finished with it. Honest!

To get some peace from the festivities, I sought refuge in my study where the table is looking more like a mad professor’s laboratory every day! In fact. I’m sewing and cleaning up Woodlife Trails’ Table of Death exhibits. Not an easy task trying to sew a shrew’s foot back onto its body.

I nearly forgot to mention that I’ve got a rat in the garden; what am I gonna do? (sorry UB40.) Needless to say it has been the subject of intense study and I’ve managed to find out where it goes and how it gets there. I think it’s living in the compost heap. I let you know more next time.

Happy New Year to everyone.

S0, What’s Been Happening?

It seems like this has been a long holiday break. I haven’t ventured too far from home but I’ve managed to get a few days in the woods.

On boxing day I managed to stalk up to a small herd of fallow. There was an annoying open patch of ground which stopped me getting closer and had to be content with quite a long shot of a three or four year old buck, laying down ruminating and watching over his does.

Most of the time I was content with just wandering along the fields picking up a few tracks. This is a nice brown hare print…

..and a badger.

I’ve had some fun with Mrs P’s camera I bought her for Christmas. She left it on the dining room table when she went for a bike ride, so I snaffled it up and had a play! It’s got a pretty good macro and zoom function.

And the sports burst shot is also very good. Notice Billy’s right rear leg in pics 5 and 8 as he goes into a rotary gallop. I gave the camera back when I finished with it. Honest!

To get some peace from the festivities, I sought refuge in my study where the table is looking more like a mad professor’s laboratory every day! In fact. I’m sewing and cleaning up Woodlife Trails’ Table of Death exhibits. Not an easy task trying to sew a shrew’s foot back onto its body.

I nearly forgot to mention that I’ve got a rat in the garden; what am I gonna do? (sorry UB40.) Needless to say it has been the subject of intense study and I’ve managed to find out where it goes and how it gets there. I think it’s living in the compost heap. I let you know more next time.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Essex Outbacks

One of the greater successes within the Woodlife Network has got to be the creation of the Essex Outbacks group. They have a 40 strong membership and as a group have organised some woods in Essex to meet up and practice bushcraft.

The Outbacks meet around every 3 months or so and depending on the time of year, various skills are practiced, large feasts are prepared and the liquid refreshment flows as the “Horn of Plenty” is passed around which normally contains a never ending supply of Port wine.

Last weekend, a group of the most hardy set out and, despite the forecast being icy, (Saturday night’s temperature was actually minus 3 Centigrade) the group were busy collecting wood to build up a warming fire.

After the normal Friday social, the only way to cure a lingering hang-over is to get stuck in to some bushcraft skills. Shelter building was the order of the day and soon a nice leaf litter shelter was built for our newest member, Hazel, to sleep in that night.

Saturday night is traditionally feast night and Vinney’s butternut squash soup was followed by Michael and Stephen’s stew, followed closely by Hazel’s excellent Jambalaya. Who said woodland living should be uncomfortable?

Saturday night was slightly milder but many were prepared for the worse! Well… if you can carry it, then why not use it?

I’m ground dwelling this winter and my own set up this year consists of the Snugpack Stratosphere hooped-bivvy; Exped down-mat; Alpkit Skyhigh 800 sleeping bag with  a Snugpack Thermalon liner. The cover is my trustee Tatonka Tarp 2 3m x 3m tarp. So ground dwelling it is this winter and this set up is snug, warm and light for walking in any distance.

It was a great weekend, and many thanks to Scrivy and the other organisers. It was great to see the old faces as well as meet new ones.

If you would like to join the Woodlife Network, follow the link above. Perhaps you would also like to set up a local group and share the cost of practicing bushcraft skills in a local wood.