LightStorm CL1 wind-up torch: £23.99

I've now got some LightStorm CL1 wind-up torches in stock, they're £23.99 including postage, though I can do them quite a bit cheaper if you happen to live near enough to come and pick one up.

They're very ruggedly built torches, but the main unique feature is that they use carbon ultracapacitors to store energy, instead of rechargeable batteries. If you're into this kind of thing, you'll know that means they will last many years longer than a normal torch, and will always be ready to use in an emergency!

There's more info here, and you can buy them via ebay here.

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Buds, birds and flowers in the woods

It's warming up a lot now (in the daytime at least), and this weekend we took advantage of the sunshine for a walk in the woods. There's loads of Spring flowers out now, like the Wood Anemone (all the following flower pics are from Sweep Wood):

the Lesser Celandine:

and of course the Primrose:

There's Daffodils too - I thought these were probably garden escapees, at the top of Sweep Wood, but there's one further down the hill too, which is odd:

What's particularly noticeable is how the strip in Sweep Wood that we coppiced this winter and last is really green as it gets so much light:

Compare this to a patch near our camp in Chestnut Coppice, which won't get much sunlight for a few weeks yet:

Not to be outdone by the flowers, some of the trees are in bloom too, like this Plum at the top of Sweep Wood:

Our own fruit trees are budding, like this pear:

and the wild Apple:

Some are a bit further behind, like this Sycamore:

While others already have leaves, like Elder:

and Hawthorn:

Meanwhile the willow has its catkins on:

With all these flowers coming out, it's not surprising to see bees around:

and also butterflies, like this Comma:

There was even a Ladybird sunning itself:

The birds are very busy right now, singing to mark out their territory. Here's a Robin, a Blackbird, a Blue Tit and a Pigeon:

Oops, I guess someone ate the Pigeon!

Last but not least, we found a huge bone. I assume someone's dog dropped it, unless we have cows in the wood...

Mike

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Spring flowers in the wood

As far as I'm concerned, Spring is now here:

They're Wood Anemones, just starting to flower in Sweep Wood, in a patch where we coppiced the trees just over a year ago. Nearby were also some Primroses flowering:

There's garden escapees as well, like daffodils:

and this - not sure what it is?

The plum tree at the top of the hill is flowering too:

and there's some really impressive Lords and Ladies coming on:

In the area we coppiced this winter, there's a visible increase in the greening of the woodland floor just over the past two weeks. Here the older one, followed by one from this weekend:

Finally, back at home, our cockatiels have decided that to celebrate Spring they will desert their cage and live on a bookshelf from now on:

Mike

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Nutstash woodland project

Just a quick post to point you in the direction of a brilliant project a friend of ours is running. Fiona's working with young people to help them gain skills in forestry and green woodworking.

Take a look: www.nutstash.co.uk

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More chainsawing logs...

Back to the woods yesterday to process more logs...

As usual, we took a few sacks from the older section of the store back home:

The other side of the store is now full, so that's about 1/4 of the wood needed for next winter now ready. We're definitely ahead compared to last year!

When we stopped for a short break, a Pheasant came wandering past, thinking he was invisible as always...

We left the bird feeder topped up again, as it had been emptied over the last week.

This bit of the wood's not looking very green yet - the sun needs to get a bit higher to start warming the ground there. That will come soon enough though...

Mike

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