It's been frosty in the wood recently! This created an opportunity for a photos... There's a few below, and you can view more here.
I've changed the way I split logs now - I used to start the split with a maul (a heavy axe), and then use a sledgehammer and wedges to finish it off. But after reading Norwegian Wood a year ago, I tried a new method that requires only the maul. Rather than describe it, I'll leave you to watch a 1 minute video:
With the cold the Robins are becoming much bolder - we're working across the territories of two or three of them this winter.
Though the really lucky one has the log I sit on at lunchtime in its territory, and I always leave some crumbs....
I found some evidence of another bird, and only because I walked a short distance to coppice this wind-blown stool so I could get lots of straight sections to use for making stakes:
On top of the coppice stool were these owl pellets:
I picked some open and you can see the fragments of bone mixed in with the fur. Shame they don't eat squirrels really...
Oh, and I did get a nice pile of stakes from the wood I cut!
The coppicing is proceeding well, we've got several stacks of wood seasoning now, for use in a couple of years' time:
At the other end of the area we're cutting there's not actually that much left to do, so it will probably be done by the end of the year, if there's enough good weather coinciding with days off work.
Mike
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