Jump to content

The Woodland


loriusgarrulus
 Share

Recommended Posts

Went down to the Woodland in Wales on my own with the dogs for the first time. Its the first time I have taken the Isuzu on a long run and it was comfortable to drive. Not been there for 8 months due to lockdown. The dogs were very good and stayed close to me in the main wood when we left the fenced area round the caravan. There is a lot of pole stage birch down on the slope by the brook. I had to take a dead birch tree down by the caravan parking area as the squirrels had debarked it. I chopped and cleared a few falls over the paths. I used my trusty Black&Decker Alligator. I have ordered a lightweight chainsaw for next trip as the Stihl 039 we have is too heavy for me.

When I fetched the solar panel down from the shed I discovered the yellow collared mice had found a way in again. They had chewed a cable on the solar panel. Fortunatley they must have decided it didn't taste good and left the rest of the wiring alone. It was near the connector and I managed to reconnect it. That kept the caravan battery charged for the 4 days I stayed as it was sunny every day.

I dumped the water from the ibc as after 8 months even with filtration I didnt fancy drinking it. The ibc has been bleached and reset up for next time we go. Hopefully some fresh rainfall will refill it.

The scots pine we planted 4 years ago are getting quite tall now and the planted yews have all got new growth on. I have a list of jobs for when I go down again.

20210423_133118 (1).jpg

20210426_091824.jpg

20210424_135152.jpg

20210424_135102.jpg

20210424_161353.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 90
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I love woods. I have spent many many years of my life either working, walking, shooting, beating or simply sitting in woods. I love the solitude, the sounds and the smells, and the effect they have of slowing time. 
They are simply the nicest places to be, and some of my fondest memories I have of the people I care and cared for, include time spent together in woods. 

Enjoy yourself, am very envious. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

A very big step.  It didn't really matter what you achieved; the achievement was going and doing it

What's the plan for next time?

 

5 hours ago, Mice! said:

Really glad you are back in your wood, it must have seemed strange,  pictures look great.

It was very strange and sad in some ways being back in the wood without Andrew. Lots of happy memories of the work we did together. Sad because he is not there with me in person. I could hear his voice as I prepared to fell the trees talking about cutting angles and wedges to make sure the trees fell the right way. The tree above the caravan was leaning towards it and rocking on its base, so I had to rope it to a larger tree away from the caravan. The dead tree was easier as it was upright and a wedge cut out away from the caravan meant the backcut took it down fine.

Next time the shed needs cresoting as it didn't get done last year. There is a stump I want to remove as its a trip hazard. I will make a start on some of the windfalls on the slope as I want to make a path down to the brook.

One of the dogs rolled in all the fresh cut shavings from the trees I felled. He is a snuggler and I can still smell the fresh cut wood smell in his coat now we are home.

Edited by loriusgarrulus
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, loriusgarrulus said:

One of the dogs rolled in all the fresh cut shavings from the trees I felled. He is a snuggler and I can still smell the fresh cut wood smell in his coat now we are home.

Brilliant, when I read rolled in I was thinking oh no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Mice! said:

Brilliant, when I read rolled in I was thinking oh no.

That was the chihuahua about 4 years ago. There is a river in the valley bottom below the wood and we get otters in the wood occasionally. Brenne rolled in otter spraint. Weird smell to it. Brenne wasnt impressed with the cold bath he got in the old catering sink by the shed with washing up liquid. It was a bit of a culture shock compared to a warm shower with Wahl special dog shampoo at home. 

The facilities at the wood are better now.
It started off life as standard 3x6 Ketter double door shed in beige. We bought it secondhand off eBay.
I painted outside dark green with rib paint.
Replaced one of the beige roof panels with opaque white to let light in.
The composting toilet is a ketter plastic store box.
Hole cut in top and toilet seat fitted.

I bought a urine separator from a specialist company and fastened it to underneath the lid of the ketter box at the front of the cut out. At the back of the cut out behind and slightly under the edge of the urine separator is a 30litre plasterers bucket. The separator is plumbed into a soak away using standard white plumbing pipe about 40mm. I spray the urine separator with white vinegar regularly to keep it clean and occasional rinse it through with rainwater we collect off the roof into a rain barrel.
The bucket has a layer of sawdust to start. Tissue and faeces go in the bucket and are covered each time with a sawdust layer.(you can use soil or leafmould) We happen to have a lot of sawdust. The bucket contents go into a composter for breakdown.
The idea is to keep the bucket contents dry so any breakdown is aerobic which is fairly smell free. If liquid goes in you get anaerobic breakdown which stinks. Hence the urine separator keeps the bucket dry.
I have been most impressed with it as it doesn't smell even in the Summer.

The shower is a battery operated Ring shower with a water pump which can also be operated off 12v car supply.
The shower tray is a Gardena plant tray 80cm x80cm x12cm deep with a shower drain going into the soakaway. The tray is lined with non slip decking tiles from the canal chandlers. They were selling them off at £1 each instead of £4.50 each.
Its stood on a plastic pallet. The shower gets its water from a plastic bin filled with cold water to which some water I boil is added. Its quite a good shower and works very well.



image.png.8c93451e1ed6838fdce9132203ad284b.png

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, loriusgarrulus said:

Probably more than ginger root does unless its in ginger wine. 🤷‍♀️

Following the warping of my mind by ditchman,  I could never again even consider anything containing ginger as food or drink 😢.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...