30 Days of Wildness – Bushcraft Days

June 15, 2016June 15, 2016

Building the Bug Hotel

One of the requirements for Finlay’s Naturalist badge at Cubs was to build a Bug Hotel. So off to the woods we went with his friend Finlay (yep, two best friends called Finlay) and his sister Catherine to get supplies.

We collected a range of material including twigs, spruce cones, elder shoots and bark. We only took a little from each area we visited but we did visit a lot of different areas and soon had a good haul.

Collage 2016-06-14 20_28_43 — Collecting

I had prepared some extra material including bricks, timber, drilled logs, plastic plant pots and grass. I got some good ideas from the RSPB Giving Nature a Home project and also from the blogs shown on the 30 Days Wild site.

To begin with the kids dug up a load of dirt to help build up the base and then set to building the base of the hotel.

Collage 2016-06-14 20_58_20 — Laying the foundations

They built two layers of material to attract different insects. I got them to hollow out the pith from lots of elder sticks and they also stuffed grass inside some plastic plant pots. The plant pots have holes in the bottom of them so the hope is they will make good bug nests.

Collage 2016-06-14 21_02_32 — Building the Bedrooms

I had found some old roof tiles at the back of the shed and we used four of them to create an overlapping roof to keep the rain out. These heavy tiles also helped lock the rather wobbly bricks into place.

Each of the tiles though had some residents already in place on their undersides 🙂

Collage 2016-06-14 21_05_29 — On goes the roof

To finish off they stuffed more material into the hotel and tidied it all up a little.

The longest part of this whole process was the collecting of the material however combining it with a good walk in the woods worked well. I did a little bit of work in the garage sawing the timber to length and drilling holes into the tops of two birch logs. Other than that the kids did most of the work.

Collage 2016-06-14 21_11_52 — Finishing touches

I am looking forward to seeing if we get any residents over the next few months. I do hope the hotel provides a snug over-wintering spot for our local bugs and that it is teeming with life next year.

Cheers

George

July 2, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 30 – Finale – Family Fun

Day 30 of the 30 Day Challenge has arrived for me and a lovely day it was spent walking by the River Loddon here in Hampshire with my family.

We decided to head off down some of the tracks Alison uses to run along and explore them in a bit more detail. There were plenty of beautiful horses grazing in their paddocks along the way and a perfect bridge for Pooh sticks.

Photo 02-07-2015 22 10 42 — Pooh Sticks and horses

I was particularly glad to be at home for this final day and to spend it with Alison, Catherine and Finlay just having fun outside with nature.

Photo 02-07-2015 22 10 43 — Riverside fun

We soon headed out onto the fields as there were lots of private property signs discouraging us from going further along the river. There was though plenty to find in the fields and the hedgerows such as these Poppies Alison found in the wheat..

Photo 02-07-2015 22 10 43 (1) — Across the fields

I spotted the tiny little Shepherds Purse plant along the path and there were beautiful thistles growing in the hedges.

Photo 02-07-2015 22 10 44 — Styles and Shepherds Purse

The path took us across a field and Catherine spotted herself a little moth hidden in the grass. There were butterflies flitting about everywhere but too fast for me to photograph.

There was plenty of more exploring to be had both in the grass and the hedgerows. I spotted some lovely Woundwort by a bridge and Finlay got himself part of wing from a recently killed bird.

Photo 02-07-2015 22 10 45 (1) — Fun and Finds

As it was a school night we could not stay long so it was soon time to go home. We got in one more set of Pooh Sticks, climbed a few logs and Finlay got himself a large Pheasant feather.

Photo 02-07-2015 22 10 46 — Heading Home

That is it for me for the 30 Day Challenge. It has been a challenge to make time every day for nature however it has been well worth it – a real tonic you could say.

The Wildlife Trusts no doubt will run this again next year but in the meantime the next project is Random Days of Wildness. I can work with that I think.

Thanks for following me on this journey over the last 30 days.

Cheers

George

July 1, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 29 – Fleeting Wildness

Day 29 of the 30 Day Challenge was I am afraid the hardest day of them all so far.

I was in class all day followed by an evening of delayed train travel (I am still on the train as I write this).

I managed to get this nice shot of some Meadowsweet on the canal side at Shipley as I left the office to head home.

Today has reminded me of how lucky I have been to manage to squeeze time in each day to do this challenge over the last month. I was desperate to get some more pictures but the battery in my camera gave out (switched itself on in my bag somehow) on the way home that I forgot that part of the challenge was just to get out and about to appreciate nature – even if that was just for a few minutes.

Looking at the canal picture I think I managed that even if it was just for a minute in my otherwise busy working day.

Cheers

George

June 30, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 28 – A Bright Day with Dark Skies

Day 28 of the 30 Day Challenge has found me up in Bradford. I am here for one night only and I am right in the city centre.

After a quick check on Google Maps I decided to have a mooch around the gardens of Bradford Cathedral. The Cathedral has a garden that is a real oasis of peace and beauty in this very built up area.

Bradford cathedral – An oasis of nature in the city

As soon as I walked up the steps into the garden I spotted some lovely Ivy Leaved Toadflax clinging to the wall. I love this little flower as it will grow in places where other flowers fear to tread.

As I walked to the end of the wall there was a building with this rather spectacular bike in the window. It had been decorated with all things nature – it even had a nest on the handlebars – quite a site.

There were many wild and domestic flowers around the Cathedral but the Red Valerian and the Foxglove got my attention.

The whole area around one side of the Cathedral was paved in gravestones and they made quite a contrast to the vibrant colours of these flowers – Life and death you could say.

As I left the Cathedral I spotted smoke on the horizon so I set off to investigate.

I came to a bridge over the railway and was confronted with this. The trains were going right through the smoke and by the smell I can only guess that a dump full of tyres had somehow been set alight.

Quite a contrast to the quiet beauty of the Cathedral.

I did not know what I would find when I went out for my Bradford Bimble but I am glad I did.

Cheers

George

June 29, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 27 – Survival with Bramley Beavers

Day 27 of the 30 Day Challenge found me running a survival session for our local Beaver group – the 2nd Bramley Beaver Scouts. My son is a Beaver so I was more than happy to run this.

I can only publish a few pictures due to the Scout policy on this and must apologise about the quality of the pictures as I had left the focus on manual instead of auto.

I set up a scenario where the Beavers were lost in the woods and in trying to find out where they were, they found a ‘supposed’ aircraft crash site. Everything they found at the site such as a discarded parachute was put to use.

In no time they had the chute up to offer them some protection from the sun.

Photo 29-06-2015 21 53 08 — Rigging the chute

Once the chute was up the Beavers went out to collect wood and tinder for their fire (all strategically placed for speed as we only had an hour and a half for the whole event).

The Beavers lit the fires (we made two) using firesteels and we set up a cooking rig to boil water in a couple of kettles (a brew for the staff).

Photo 29-06-2015 21 55 08 — Getting the fire ready

I had set up a load of hammocks around the crash site for the Beavers to try out. I took ten at a time on the firelighting while the other ten were told to conserve their energy and rest up in the hammocks. I had no arguments on this from any of them.

Photo 29-06-2015 21 55 49 — Hammock time

Once the fires were going we set off to do two other activities. I asked Amber (aka Kiwi) if she could run a drum stalk. This is where the Beavers are blindfolded and they have to walk towards the sound of the drum and touch the drummers forehead. All the Beavers managed this. It is a good game for teaching them the importance of using all their senses and not just their sight.

Photo 29-06-2015 21 56 39 — Getting the tea on

The other activity was the Atlatl. They had a great time pinging Atlatl darts down the range to finish off.

Photo 29-06-2015 21 58 13 — Some Atlatl time

I had a great time with this event and by the smiles on the Beavers faces afterwards I think they did too.

Cheers

George

June 28, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 26 – Story Sticks

Day 26 0f the 30 Day Challenge was one of beauty.

Finlay and Catherine had their friends Lisa and Finlay ‘D’ around for the afternoon. I took them out to the woods near Silchester and we brought along some Story Sticks. I have heard them called Journey Sticks but their job is to tell a story of a journey.

I had made them a Story Stick each with twine and elastic bands wrapped around them. As we went for a walk we started to find interesting and colourful stuff to attach to the sticks so that they could at the end recall their journey.

We started off next to some of the most beautiful poppies I have ever seen.

As the kids went off finding stuff I took a closer look at the flowers. The inside of the Poppy flower seemed quite psychedelic with all its strong colours.

We had a great time munching on Bilberries, scrambling on fallen trees, finding what looked like very fine sheep fleece and just watching the pond.

Photo 28-06-2015 20 18 45 (1) — Finds and fun

We took a break at the pond to have a snack and take in the view. The boys wanted to be zipped up in the hammock and the girls took the opportunity to tickle them without fear of retaliation.

On the way back we took time to gather more finds for the sticks, watch the sheep and flowers, and to just run.

Photo 28-06-2015 20 18 47 — Heading back

Our completed Story Sticks ready to take home – quite beautiful.

Photo 28-06-2015 18 44 41 — Story Sticks finished

Next time you go for a walk remember your Story Stick.

Cheers

George

June 27, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 25 – Barbie and Bugs

Day 25 of the 30 Day Challenge brought us to RAF Benson. Our friends Tracey and Scott invited us around for a barbecue today – quite apt being it is Armed Forces day here in the UK.

The weather was perfect for me with a nice mix of clouds and sunshine (I am dreading next weeks heatwave when it comes). Tracey and Neil put on a great spread and just as I was getting comfy with a beer in my hand there was an almighty racket of squealing from the kids……..

Photo 27-06-2015 22 37 02 — Barbie on the Base

It turned out that one of the lads William had found himself a large spider and was showing him to the rest of the kids. They were showing their appreciation by quite vocal squealing.

Also up above a couple of Red Kites were checking us out for a chance opportunity to get some food and my friend Paul pointed out some Ladybird larvae to me that was sitting on a leaf.

Photo 27-06-2015 22 37 03 — Initial spots

Soon the food was all ready and it was time to tuck in. While I was chomping away I decided to carry on the theme of bug spotting so took off afterwards with Finlay and William to see what we could find on the base.

There is not much dead wood lying around on the base so we really had to look hard to find bugs but they were there.

We spotted some Lime Nail Galls standing proud. On some leaves there was only one but on others you could find twenty or so.

Sheltering from the sun under an Ivy leaf we found a snail and on the Blue Iris (at least that’s what I think it is) there were loads of little black aphids.

Photo 27-06-2015 22 37 05 — Lots of spots

The spot of the evening was the pyramidal orchid covered in aphids. We found this lone plant in the long grass but no others.

I took the picture of the Bluebottle just because of the lovely colours it radiated from itself.

When we got back the ladies were stretched out enjoying a chat but were being press ganged by the kids to do some handstands.

Alison I must admit can do an excellent cartwheel and headstand – nice one.

This was a lovely way to spend Armed Forces Day, in good company, in good weather and with some excellent bugs as well.

Cheers

George

June 26, 2015June 26, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 24 – Fire Spirits

Day 24 of the 30 Days Challenge found us back out in the woods – not for pictures of plants or animals but to collect some wood – some very special and magical wood.

A couple of years ago my good friend Mad Dave Delaney at the BCUK Bushmoot introduced me to the Fire Spirit. These little fellas are supposed to be created so that they can be burnt on the campfire and a then a wish is made upon them.

My kids love them but refuse to burn them (even for a wish). Catherine has had one now for a couple of years and it needed a make over but Finlay needed a new one altogether.

Photo 26-06-2015 20 59 23 — Fire Spirits

We looked firstly for a branch with a good fork (these will be the legs) in it, trimmed it and another straight piece for the arms. Once both were trimmed we headed back home to assemble everything.

Photo 26-06-2015 20 59 24 — Selecting the right wood & a bit of sawing

Needless to say we could not go to the woods without climbing a tree or two 🙂

Photo 26-06-2015 20 59 25 — You gotta climb

We found lots of leaves in the garden to dress the Fire Spirits. We used hemp cord and damp reed leaves to bind everything together.

Catherine’s Fire Spirit was just a bit loose on the bindings so with a new dress and some fresh cord she was ready to go again.

Photo 26-06-2015 20 59 26 — Refurbishing Catherine’s old Fire Spirit

Finlay helped me to carve a face on his Fire Spirit (the first time I have given him a knife) and then it was a case of dressing his Fire Spirit and attaching the arms.

Photo 26-06-2015 20 59 27 — Finlay’s new Fire Spirit

All done – two new residents of the den.

Photo 26-06-2015 20 59 29 — Two new residents for the den

Cheers

George

June 25, 2015June 26, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 23 – A Sad, Sad Day

Day 23 of the 30 Day Challenge was a sad one for us.

It started out so well with the kids wanting to go on a bimble with their scooters. We decided to visit our favourite woods at the Frith.

Photo 25-06-2015 21 26 05 — A scooting Bimble tonight

The Frith is an ancient woodland with a massive electrical substation in the middle of it so we can only wander around the edge.

At the far end though there is a small copse off to the side with permissive paths through it (sign posted saying keep to the paths because of ground nesting birds). When we got there tonight, though, the landowner had put up a fence over all the access points and posted signs saying it was now closed to the public.

I have really enjoyed this small oasis over the years and cannot understand why the landowner has done this.

Photo 25-06-2015 21 26 07 — A sad sight – our local woodland has been closed off

We soldiered on though and headed on around the Frith to a place where there is a lovely pond. I ended up carrying the scooters but it was worth it.

Photo 25-06-2015 21 26 08 — Moved on to the pond

I spotted my first Meadowsweet of the year – a real plant of the summer.

There was plenty of life around the pond. As the kids had a snack I got down to the serious job of stalking the dragonflies 😉

Catherine spotted the little cricket on the bench she had been sitting on.

Photo 25-06-2015 21 26 09 — Lots of activity

We headed off towards home saying one last goodbye to our old paths on the way.

It was a lovely bimble but a sad one none the less.

Cheers

George

June 24, 2015June 26, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 22 – Nature, Lines and a bit on Poison

Day 22 of the 30 Day Challenge and I am in London until late this evening. I am meeting up with the Grumpy Old Men’s Club for a social hour or two so I thought it best to get out for a wander at lunchtime to see what nature has to offer in the city.

There is a lot of nature in the centre of London but what struck me is that we do seem to like everything neat and lined up nicely. I know nature generally does not like straight lines though like the flowers on the right it can lend to to it at times – so why do we insist on keeping everything neat and straight?

I took a wander over to Regent’s Park On my Bimble and everywhere the gardeners had been it was all neat, tidy and lined up (with the occasional twirling hedge).

All for ease of maintenance I suppose however if you look closely at areas where nature was left alone you start to see more curves and waves.

I like bindweed as a flower and also as a plant that is a hardy survivor however in Regent’s Park the gardeners see it as a killer and they try to get rid of it.

it was also nice to see that the gardeners had left many old fallen trunks around for the insects. I found lots of insects, fungi and other wild plants living or growing on them. It was nice to see the randomness of nature here as opposed to the well structured areas all around them.

The poplar seeds were floating around and being blown away by the gardeners with their large machines but I managed to find one pile in the crook of a tree that had not been tidied away – all tangled and lying around as they fell.

I did though spot a fair few natural straight lines with the likes of these young birch trees (accepted they had been planted but they were very straight at this stage in their life) and the drooping heads of the pendulous sedge.

In amongst all this I did see nature getting on with its daily business, be it this bush enveloping the bridge, the bugs feeding on the flowers or the ducks nesting quietly on the ponds.

On the way back to the office I passed the Faculy of Public Health and they have a small garden outside (behind very big bars) dedicated to poisonous plants. I wil go back there with my digital camera to zoom in on more of the plants later but I was able to photograph these plaques for Ivy – never knew Ivy had been used to prevent hangovers – relevant as I am off to meet the Grumpy Old Men’s club tonight 🙂

Who knew – Ivy has been used to prevent hangovers

Regent’s Park is a beautiful place to visit however the beauty is not all in the straight lines and stunning borders – for me it is in these little pockets of un-managed nature left behind by the gardeners.

Cheers

George

June 23, 2015July 11, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 21 – Finishing the Den

Day 21 of the 30 Day Challenge found us going back to finish our shelter we had started on Day 18 (Shelter Building – Part 1).

I had to trim a rather overgrown Leylandii in our front garden and I voluntold the kids into helping me. They had to tell me if anyone was coming (the branches hung over the pavement) and transport the cuttings back into the garden.

Once that was sorted we started the laborious job of breaking of the branches so that they could be used for thatch for the den they were building.

Photo 23-06-2015 21 09 29 — Trimming the Leylandii

Then it was a case of dragging all the cuttings into the back garden (It was just Catherine and myself at this stage as Finlay had headed off to Karate).

Once we got all the cuttings in the back garden Catherine and I leant some of the bigger branches against the frame to catch the cuttings (pointing upwards). The we started to weave in the cuttings (pointing downwards) to thatch it.

Photo 23-06-2015 21 09 31 — Gathering and set up

There were plenty of holes in the thatch so Catherine went inside and would stick her little hand out where she could see sunlight. It was then my job to thatch it.

Photo 23-06-2015 21 09 32 — Checking for holes

We laid a lot of sticks on the outside to hold all the thatch in place in case the wind gets up.

Finlay was back after 8 pm just in time to finish it off with a few extra additions

Photo 23-06-2015 21 09 33 — Final touches

I think they have a proper little den to play in now for the next few days.

Photo 23-06-2015 21 09 34 — A proper den

Cheers

George

June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 20 – Reflecting with the Beavers

Day 20 of the 30 Day Challenge was not one I needed to think about much. My son Finlay is a member of the 2nd Bramley Beaver Scouts.

They had decided for tonights activities to visit Morgaston Woods near The Vyne National Trust property to explore the area, discuss the idea of self reflection and of course – toast a marshmallow or three.

I tagged along as an interested parent and also to meet the boys as I will be working with them next week.

Photo 22-06-2015 21 17 25 — Reflection at Morgaston Wood

The Beavers split up into about five different groups and chatted about what they themselves felt they had to be thankful for in life. Once they had decided they wrote their thoughts on a tag and hung them of a line to swing in the breeze.

I found the whole process quite relaxing, fun and crucially quite mentally stimulating – I too had to take part 🙂

Photo 22-06-2015 21 17 26 — Messages in the wind

A fire was lit in a tray and I managed to catch the initial flare as all the kindling went up – made for quite a flame. The flames soon died down and after a little while (a story was read about pigs and poo – laughed too much to understand what it was all about) everyone got on with the serious business of marshmallow toasting.

Photo 22-06-2015 21 17 27 — Marshmallow time

There was time for a bit of daft fun in the lean too shelters while we were heading home.

As we drove Finlay’s friend William home we spotted some Poppies growing on the roadside – could not pass up the opportunity for one more picture.

Photo 22-06-2015 21 17 28 — A Poppy find on the way home

I liked tonight as I did not have to think about what to do and the Beavers were an excellent and well behaved bunch.

I am looking forward to working with them next Monday with a spot of survival training.

Cheers

George

June 21, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 19 – Fathers Day Fun

For Fathers Day my main request to the family was that we did something together but outdoors for the 30 Day Challenge.

Alison suggested a barbecue at the Lime Pits nature area near Basingstoke. As soon as we arrived the kids were all over the playground equipment – I do include Alison in this 🙂

Photo 21-06-2015 20 40 30 — Lime Pits Park

It was great to spend time together in a place that holds so much beauty if you look closely.

I found that this is a great place for Self heal and Thistles – Lovely purples.

Photo 21-06-2015 20 40 31 — Family and Nature – Fathers Day request

We had a Red Kite hovering over us for a while, lots of bees in amongst the comfrey and crickets galore. I had to struggle through some nettles to get to my prize find of the day – Large Yellow Loosestrife – a beautiful flower.

Photo 21-06-2015 20 40 33 — Life in the park

Now the barbie could have been a bit of a nightmare. I had set it all up and lit it but it did not take. After a bit of a re-think plan B was to raid the first aid kit for a couple of dressings, found my lip balm (vaseline based) and added a few ash twigs.

A quick strike from the firesteel and up she went.

Then it was over to Alison for the cooking – I know barbies are supposed to be a male preserve but it was Fathers Day 🙂

There was plenty of time to run through the woods or roll down hills or in my case struggle through nettles to get the picture of the Loosestrife.

Photo 21-06-2015 20 40 34 (1) — All having fun

The food was cooked to perfection by Alison on the barbie and there was plenty of fruit afterwards to enjoy – I did manage a couple of beers along the way as well 🙂

Soon it was time to go home so out came the water bottles for a quick hose down to put out the barbie. The kids for some reason insisted on doing this themselves. I was left with the messy job of mixing it all together to make sure it was properly out.

Photo 21-06-2015 20 40 36 — Time to cool things down

As a final note I must say thank you to Catherine and Finlay for being such great kids today and to Alison for making Fathers Day such fun.

Photo 21-06-2015 20 40 36 (1) — Thanks Alison

Cheers

George

June 20, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 18 – Shelter Building – Part 1

I have never seen a pram being used as a cooking stand but it worked 🙂

I was looking at the weather forecast for today and there was a possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon. So for the 30 Day Challenge I thought a bit of shelter building learning was the order of the day.

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 31 — Proper playing

I have a load of sycamore rods in the garden from some pollarding I did last winter so decided to put them to use.
I prepared three interlocking poles for Catherine and Finlay to put up to start their shelter. Once they had locked them I got them to lash them together with a bit of paracord. Then they had to collect all the other poles together ready for constructing the shelter walls.

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 33 — Set up and wood collection

I think you could say that they were happy with their haul 🙂

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 34 — I think they are happy with their haul

They took it in turns at first to select a rod, measure it, saw it with me and then place it in its correct position.

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 34 (1) — Catherine, measuring, sawing and fitting

This lasted for a little while alternating back and forth but I felt that this level of accuracy was testing for most adults never mind a couple of active kids so eventually I let them off to play elsewhere and cracked on with this bit myself.

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 35 — Finlay , measuring, sawing and fitting

As I neared the end I got Catherine and Finlay back involved finishing the tail of the shelter off.

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 36 — Eventually the final touches to the frame

Shelter building takes time so for tonight we just put a tarp over it secured down with some logs. In a day or two we will cover the shelter with some spruce boughs and give it a soft bed – but that is for another post.

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 37 — A tarp for tonight

So the difficult bit began 😉 Time for play.

Photo 20-06-2015 20 58 37 (1) — Time to play

I must say that Catherine really got into the spirit of making a camp setting up her own play fire and rigging her own cooking rig (thankfully no thunderstorms appeared).

I have never seen a pram being used as a cooking stand but it worked 🙂

Cheers

George

June 19, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 17 – Majestic Morgaston

It was my wife Alison’s turn to choose our trip out for the evening and she chose a trip to Morgaston Woods for the 30 Day Challenge.

Alison chose this area for its good access and that there is a rather lovely bird hide on the edge of the wood near The Vyne National Trust property. We were joined tonight by Finlay’s friend Finlay (yup I did say Finlay’s friend Finlay)

I spotted this rather beautiful looking dead root system. It looks dangerous but relatively easy to climb onto from the back – makes for a great picture.

We had lots of spots tonight, from a lovely glade of foxglove, a little beetle and some chicken of the woods fungus. The kids are really getting their eye in now.

Photo 19-06-2015 22 08 09 (2) — Foxglove, beetles and chicken of the wood

At the far end of the walk we came to the bird hide. Thankfully it was empty (we would have gotten some scowls from any serious bird watchers for our noise) and we had some good views.

I spotted a heron coming into land on the lake – my lens does not have great magnification I am afraid.

Photo 19-06-2015 22 08 08 — Quiet time – spotted a heron landing

On the way back from the bird hide we came across lots of camps and chainsawed seats in the woods (I love this bench – rustic and simple). There were a number of nettle stings over the evening but with a few crushed up nettles rubbed onto them they were soon away (best cure for nettle stings is the juice of a nettle).

Photo 19-06-2015 22 08 09 — Camp set ups

We found the old bomb crater in the wood and the lads ran themselves ragged around it trying to out do each other.

Photo 19-06-2015 22 13 13 — Running the crater

Looks like the weather is changing tomorrow with thunderstorms coming in so who knows what we will get up to then.

Cheers

George

June 18, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 16 – Hammock Time

I am running a bushcraft evening for our local Beaver group in just over a weeks time and so I went out with the pack leader Amber to check out the woods we would be using.

I took the kids with me as Alison is in London today and also took along a hammock to see if we could easily string a few up on the evening. Hammocks I thought was a good theme for the 30 Day Challenge.

After a good reccee of the site the kids found some clay blobsters the school children had made so they had fun playing with them. We also spotted a colony of ants with lots of flying ants among them (the pictures did not turn out well though).

After tea we went for an evening bimble and spotted lots of small willowherbs and quite a few ripe wild strawberries.

Photo 18-06-2015 21 14 38 — Willowherb and Wild Strawberries

In keeping with the hammock theme I put up my small EDC hammock for Catherine and Finlay. This kept the kids happy while I wandered around looking for pictures. Finlay though could not help himself and was soon shimmying up a tree.

Photo 18-06-2015 21 14 39 — A bit more hammock time

While the kids were in the hammock or up trees I spotted these little critters. The one on the left was sitting on the tip of a small mullein leaf. There was a fight going on in the top right picture and the chap in the bottom right was just sunning himself.

Photo 18-06-2015 21 14 39 (1) — Bug spotting

The beauty of the EDC hammock is that it has a zip – great for containing the kids when out and about 🙂

Photo 18-06-2015 21 14 40 — EDC – Perfect for naughty kids

It was soon time to go home but Finlay could not resist one more shimmy across the narrow ridge over the stream.

Photo 18-06-2015 21 14 41 — Carefully does it

Another successful Wild Day I think and who knows what tomorrow will bring (need to think of something fast).

Cheers

George

June 17, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 15 – Catherine’s Choice

This 30 Day Challenge is reminding me very clearly what busy lives we lead. I got home from work, had a lovely tea cooked by Alison and then we were out to take Finlay to football practice at 6pm. Finding time for nature can be difficult however not impossible.

Alison decided to go for a run while Finlay was training so I asked Catherine what she wanted to do – Answer – Get an ice cream and go and see the ducks – So off we went.

We were in the lovely village of Sherfield on Loddon so after getting the ice creams we paid the ducks a visit.

Photo 17-06-2015 20 56 12 — Catherine’s choice

We sat for a while watching the Ducks and then wandered across to another pond where we got a lovely surprise of a nest of ducklings.

We observed for a few seconds and then backed away to leave them in peace.

Photo 17-06-2015 20 56 13 — A little surprise

We tried to sneak up on some rabbits but they were too fast for us but we did spot a lovely little common spotted orchid beside a dried up pond.

Photo 17-06-2015 20 56 13 (1) — Found an orchid

It was soon time to pick Finlay up but when we got there they were running over time a little. I laid back in the grass and got this picture of Finlay as he came by. Alison took the lovely picture of Catherine with the bubble.

Busy lives but a little bit of nature squeezed nicely in 🙂

Cheers

George

June 16, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 14 – A little bit of Macro

I set out on the 30 Day Challenge tonight on my own with an eye to do a bit of macro photography. I also took along my little tripod to get a steady shot if the light was not good.

On the way to a nice wild spot in the village this little trap passed me by and when I got to my spot the first thing I tripped over was a pheasant.

The area I was going to photograph is on a piece of waste ground near our old British Legion building here in Bramley. There is always some teasel growing here and I managed to get a lovely shot of this one backlit by the sun. The two pictures on the right are of speedwell and brooklime. Both of the flowers were tiny so I used my lens extensions to zoom in and my tripod to try and get a steady shot.

Photo 16-06-2015 21 34 51 — From big to tiny

I was having a look at the oxeye daisies when I came across this little chap. He was raising his front legs every now and then to ward off the lens.

The bottom two flowers are forget-me-not and stichwort, both very dainty and beautiful. I love how you can see the shadows from the stamens on the stichwort.

I decided to have a play around getting some shots of the seed heads of some grasses and was pretty happy with the results. The vetch and the down feather were less of a success as I could not get the depth of field to focus on everything (I need a course on this).

Photo 16-06-2015 21 34 52 (1) — Points and curves

The hairs on the oxeye caught my attention as they were lit up by the sun but I was really taken with the herb robert in the two pictures at the bottom. I was impressed that I could make out the individual pollen grains.

Photo 16-06-2015 21 34 53 — A little bit of pollen

My last picture of the night was of a lonely little snail tucked up in the nook of a nettle leaf.

Photo 16-06-2015 21 34 53 (1) — Snuggled in

Really enjoyed getting down to the macro level again.

Cheers

George

June 16, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 13 – Nature and Silchester Amphitheatre

The thing I really like about this 30 Day Challenge is that it makes me get out of the house when I would normally stay indoors. Monday evening I got off the train from London and instead of flopping in front of the TV or computer I said to my daughter we were going out.

Now this was not taken well as there was the little matter of the iPad in the middle of this. Eventually after much grumbling (from both of us I admit) we were in the car heading up to the Roman amphitheatre in Silchester.

I remembered that there were many wild flowers growing there such as the dog rose flower you can see below. Needless to say Catherine was off climbing as soon as we got there.

I took these two shots of Catherine as she entered the amphitheatre and as you can see all traces of grumpiness had gone – all it took was to actually get out there.

Looking around the amphitheatre there were a lot of wild flowers and insects still out and about. Coming through lovely were the foxgloves and lots of buttercups.

I spotted a lone mullein growing and got Catherine to feel how soft it was in comparison to other plants. Needless to say the conversation got onto what type of plant leaf would be good for toilet paper and mullein came tops.

We climbed up onto the top of the amphitheatre to look at the view and spotted this lovely little thatched cottage at the back. A dream house as far as Catherine was concerned.

Carrying on around the rim of the amphitheatre we came across a holly tree covered in the larvae burrows of the holly leaf miner (Phytomyza illis). This larvae makes its home in a holly leaf and will burrow about as it eats leaving a space it can develop into an adult fly.

Other animals and insects will predate the miner including the blue tit (triangular scar in the top right picture below) or a parasitic wasp (bottom right). The picture at the bottom left I think shows a slightly larger round hole signifying a successful emergence.

As we left we spotted some more dog roses and some little ducklings in the local pond.

This spot is great to visit due to its historical nature, its quietness much of the time and its wide variety of flora and fauna. Hits all the nature tick points as far as I am concerned.

Cheers

George

June 16, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 12 – Sunday Bushcraft

Day 12 of the 30 Day Challenge was one of rush, rush and rush from morning till night.

The Royal Marines Cadets we were training had the task of lighting the fires to cook the breakfast but thankfully we had our very own chef Alan Lewis to oversee all the cooking.

I tried to spend as much time as possible baking twizzle stick bread to get out of doing the many chores that were needed doing on this last morning of the camp (not very successfully may I add).

We ran various classes that day including bread making, archery, stalking games and group bowdrill. London Area Sea Cadets have a brilliant Bushcraft team and this weekend showed that clearly – thanks to Dave Lewis, Charlie Brookes, Cliff Lewis and Alan Lewis for being that team.

Wrap up was a fast affair with everyone helping out. So fast I was home at 2pm – just in time to start on all my home chores 🙂

Cheers

George

June 15, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 11 – Bushcrafting Saturday

The early hours of Day 11 of the 30 Days Challenge brought us very heavy rain overnight and just in time for the tapes in my trusty old tarp to spring a leak.

The day though turned out brilliantly with the Royal Marines Cadets and staff getting up to loads of activities including fire lighting, knife skills, shooting Atlatl darts, stalking games and learning about bushcraft knots.

Photo 15-06-2015 21 09 37 — A damp start

One of the main events of the day was cooking fish over the open fires (more on this in a later post) however there was plenty of other delights such as Dave’s favourite cupcakes 😉

Photo 15-06-2015 21 09 37 (1) — Lots of food

This was a long day however an extremely enjoyable one for all the cadets and staff getting back in touch with nature and having a really wild day.

Another lovely evening watching a bit of woodland TV where I can definitely see two fire faces in our little campfire picture at the bottom.

Cheers

George

June 15, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 10 – Camp Set Up

Day 10 of the 30 day Challenge found me in the military training area around Aldershot. I will write an in depth report on the weekend later but as this was where I was interacting with nature last Friday so I thought I would write up a little on what I got up to.

I had taken the day off work to prepare for a bushcraft course I was helping to run with the Royal Marines Cadets. As the advance party it was our job to set the camp up so it was mostly putting up tarps, a parachute and doing all the other chores needed to run a camp.

As I wanted to give the cadets a good bushcraft experience once the main HQ area was set up we spent the rest off the evening until the cadets turned up putting up 12 hammocks and tarps. This is not easy to do with only a few of you (thanks Dave and Charlie) so I was glad to see the last one finally up.

Photo 15-06-2015 20 15 07 — A dozen hammocks

The cadets turned up in the evening and some slept in the hammocks and some in bivi bags on the ground. The plan was then to allow them to swap over on Saturday night.

I finished the evening chatting with the guys around the campfire planning for the next day.

All in all a day in nature I would say.

Cheers

George

June 11, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 9 – Ice Cream Drinks, Saws and Strawberries

I have had a day off work today so I spent it prepping a load of kit for a bushcraft course I am running for the Royal Marines Cadets this weekend. Part of my prep for the weekend was to make sure my bowdrill sets were working fine. It was good to see the embers coming out well so I think that that part of my day comes under the 30 day Challenge.

11390348_10153034827664385_5448931338604836733_n — Lovely ember

After school the kids asked for an ice cream drink (made with ice cream and lemonade). I readily agreed as they are one of my favourites as well and they laid out in the grass to enjoy it.

It was at this point that I let them know that there was a price to pay for the drink so it was off to the woods we went.

I needed to get some wood for the weekend and I knew where there were some brash wood piles of Silverbirch. There has been a lot of thinning work going on in the woods so it did not take long to find enough. I only took one or two pieces from each pile so as to not disturb too much any new habitats forming within them.

Photo 11-06-2015 20 12 13 — Ice cream drinks with a price to pay

I had decided to introduce the kids to using a saw. The one I brought along was my little Laplander folding saw as I thought it would be easier for them to handle. It took a while as this is not something you can rush, however they enjoyed the experience.

Photo 11-06-2015 20 12 15 — Intro to the Laplander

It was not all sawing though, nearby the kids spotted some Wild Strawberries coming through and enjoyed feeling the softness of the emerging Mullein leaves.

Photo 11-06-2015 20 12 15 (1) — Strawberries and Mullein

It was soon time to go back so after a quick pic of our harvest off we went – do not worry I carried most of them back :-), the kids carried two logs each. These logs will be used by the Marines this weekend to learn the art of carving.

I had promised them another ice cream drink when they got back and I added a few marshmallows as an extra treat.

Photo 11-06-2015 20 12 17 — Ice cream drinks to finish

As I will be in the woods for the next few nights I will not be posting up but rest assured I will be looking to carry the challenge on.

Cheers

George

June 10, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 8 – A Bramley Evening

I got back from my travels from Cardiff this evening having been in class for most of the day and a few hours on the train.

It was great to get home however it was too late to go out with the kids (being a school night). So once they were off to bed I took an evenings stroll to see if I could get any decent shots of the countryside as the sun was setting for the 30 Days Challenge.

Just as the sun was setting over the Frith woods I got this nice shot of the Hawthorn Haws developing.

Caught up in the Hawthorn tree I spotted a small pigeon feather swaying in the breeze.

Photo 10-06-2015 22 40 54 — Feather trap

Below the Hawthorn were some Oxeye Dasies.

Photo 10-06-2015 22 40 54 (1) — Oxeye Daisy

Slowly over the next little while the sun dissapeared with a lovely tinge off red. When I uploaded the pictures to my computer I increased the contrast to darken the shaded areas it had the effect of deepening the reds (I like the effect so decided to keep it).

Photo 10-06-2015 22 40 55 — Disappearing sun

Tomorrow night it will be time to get out with the kids again to see what we can find.

Cheers

George

June 9, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 7 – Cardiff Bay Wetlands

Day 7 of the 30 Day Challenge I found quite relaxing. I spent much of today cooped up in a very enclosed office training new staff. It was very warm and claustrophobic so a trip down to the Cardiff Bay wetlands was just the tonic I needed.

My day had been very enclosed up to this point so it was good to get out and about in this wetlands environment. As soon as I walked into the wetlands I caused a stir. I decided to have a look at one area and promptly disturbed a Heron which took flight instantly.

I hoped to get out into the wetlands themselves but it was not to be. On the outskirts of the wetlands there was plenty to see in terms of common reed, the flowering rush and the yellow iris.

I spent a lot of time standing on the wooden walkway watching the ducks. They were very busy either preening themselves, resting on one foot or heads down and feeding.

It was soon time to head back to meet some friends (Cap’n Badger and David Jones) in Cardiff town centre and I was given some spectacular views on the way.

I needed these couple of hours to myself just to re-set my internal clocks.

Cheers

George

June 8, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 6 – Creative Cardiff

Work has taken me to Cardiff tonight so for the 30 Day Challenge I am once again on my own.

The hotel I am in overlooks Cardiff Castle so for tonights wander I decided to have a look at Bute Park which is located next to Cardiff Castle.

The first thing I found when I entered the park was this lovely carved bench identifying different trees by their leaves – better than any ID book.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 02 — An educating bench

The park is a beautiful place to have a bimble in the evening. Before I knew it carvings (natural and man made) were popping up everywhere with the odd little squirrel staring me out.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 03 — Man made and natural sculptures

I took all the pictures with my phone camera (Sony Z3) and was quite chuffed to get close enough to the little fella in the bottom left picture to get a decent shot of him.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 04 — Spot the real one 🙂

The park not only has beautiful sculptures it also has some stunning trees like the Cedar in the bottom picture.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 05 — A park to be proud of

Eventually I found the River Taff and this mature nettle perfectly silhouetted by the sun’s reflection.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 05 (1) — Riverside sculpture

Further along the river bank I came across a downed Willow tree. The tree was over the river so as I scrambled over it I came across this little fella sitting on another tree by the bank. He was so chilled he let me get close enough that I could easily touch him.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 06 — Stepped out and spotted this chap

The dominant flower along the length of the River Taff I walked was the beautiful Red Campion.

It was nice to walk through the park looking at and photographing both the fine detail and some of the bigger scenes.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 07 (1) — Up close and far away

The walk finished up at the back of Cardiff Castle.

Photo 08-06-2015 20 32 08 — Cardiff Castle

I have never been to Bute Park before and I have to say it is probably the best city park I have ever come across.

I’ll be back 🙂

Cheers

George

June 7, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 5 – Evening Archery

It has been a busy day today with all the chores of most Sundays so the wildest we got today was the back garden to do the 30 day challenge.

A couple of years ago the kids each helped me build their father and son bows. These quick bows are made from Hazel and shoot just as well as the day they were made.

Photo 07-06-2015 19 40 40 — Father and Son Bows

We have not had the bows out this year so after going through the basics again we had quite a few rounds shooting down the garden.

As the kids do not draw them back too far at the moment I was happy to have them shoot in the garden. Once they got their eye in they started to hit the targets.

Not to be outdone I had a little shoot myself and thoroughly enjoyed spending my evening with the kids.

Photo 07-06-2015 19 40 42 (1) — A Lovely Evening

I am off to Cardiff tomorrow for a couple of nights so there will be a couple of posts on what I can find in the city.

Cheers

George

June 6, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 4 – Bramley Bimbles

What a cracking day it has been. I had no problem getting out and about for the thirty day challenge as it was such a lovely day.

We popped out to Clift Meadow here in Bramley for the ‘Big Lunch‘ – my wife Alison had organised an excellent picnic for us. This is a one-day get together for neighbours to meet up and chat over a spot of lunch.

My son Finlay was off playing with his friends so after our picnic my daughter Catherine and I went off in hunt of some insects. We went to one of our favourite ponds that is full of Yellow Iris and Brooklime – a perfect attraction for insects.

We were hoping to spot some Mayflies but it was not to be. We did though spot some bees on the flowers on the way and at the pond itself a cricket and a small moth on the Brooklime.

Photo 06-06-2015 16 17 50 (1) — Our spots

Later on in the afternoon we jumped on our bikes and headed out to our local woods.

After hiding the bikes we spotted lots of deer tracks and had some fun on the old bridges.

Photo 06-06-2015 19 23 46 — Woodland wanders

The main reason to go to this spot was to look for some of the Common Spotted Orchids I know grow here. After a quick recce we soon found them.

Photo 06-06-2015 19 25 45 — Orchid hunting

It was soon time for dinner so we headed back for the bikes. On the way back we spotted a pigeon kill site. I had a look at the quills and none of them had been ripped off so I imagine it was a bird of prey that had its dinner here.

Photo 06-06-2015 19 26 41 — The journey home

All in all a great day with the family.

Cheers

George

June 5, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 3 – Fire Lighting

This thirty day challenge is proving a bit of a challenge all right. Not for the activities but for just sorting the pictures. The kids are having a ball though.

Tonight I needed to finish building a Gibbet crane (more on this in a later post) and I needed a fire to test the crane out. So instead of cracking on with it myself I got the kids involved.

First up we headed out to the wood pile and got a load of small twigs and small logs. Once collected Finlay and Catherine sorted them into different sizes by the firepit.

Photo 05-06-2015 21 31 16 — Collecting time

To light the fire we got a couple of firesteels out, had a little practice and then sparked up some char cloth.

Photo 05-06-2015 21 31 18 — Strike a light

The char cloth was popped into some hay and within a minute they had it well lit.

Photo 05-06-2015 21 31 19 — A huff and a puff

I got all my pictures of my crane sorted but the kids wanted the important stuff – marshmallows – could not disagree with them

Photo 05-06-2015 21 31 19 (1) — Finally the important stuff

Quite happy to do this one tonight as I needed to light the fire but it was a nice change to get the kids involved in the fire making this time.

Cheers

George

June 4, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 2 – Pond Dipping

As I got home tonight from my trip away I had a chat with the kids about what we could do for the 30 day challenge and pond dipping was brought up.

We had a quick scrabble around for all the kit and were soon on our way.

There are a number of ponds in the village and I was hoping that there would be enough water still standing from the heavy rain last weekend.

The first pond was very low and after a couple of dips we gave up as all we were bringing up was mud.

Photo 04-06-2015 20 20 32 — First pond – unsuccessful

The next pond though covered with pondweed offered up a small ant (must have been on a stick), a small worm type animal, loads of mossie larvae and a few little shrimps.

Photo 04-06-2015 20 20 33 — Second pond – some success

We visit this pond regularly as a family of coots nest here every year and this is the perch the kids use to watch them. They were not in sight tonight but we enjoyed the tree anyway.

Photo 04-06-2015 20 20 33 (1) — Chilling in the trees

Finlay went back to dipping and Catherine to a bit of examining and it was at this point that a couple of lads came cycling by and insulted my kids not knowing I was sitting by the tree. They were off the opinion that they were crazy to be anywhere near the pond as they would get horrible diseases. It is sad to see that that is the attitude of many.

My kids know not to put their hands near their faces when pond dipping by a still pond like this and to wash their hands thoroughly when they get home. I know there is always the potential for Weils disease however the kids had no cuts and scrubbed well when they got home.

Needless to say I stepped out and soon they were scuttling away

As we did not have much time (nearly 7pm on a school night) we headed back but had one more dip in another stream. Finlay was chuffed as he managed to get himself a pond skater in the net.

Photo 04-06-2015 20 20 34 (1) — Found a stream – good haul

We did not get any fish however we did have a great evenings stroll.

Last catch – a pond skater, some small shrimps and a small worm

Cheers

George

June 3, 2015June 22, 2015

30 Days of Wildness – Day 1

I was reading an article on Bushcraft UK tonight by my friend Tony Bristow on the June Nature Challenge set by The Wildlife Trusts.

It is aimed at – asking people, both young and old, to be creative and invent their own ‘random acts of wildness’. They could be as simple as following a bee to see where it leads you, smell a wildflower or make a wild work of art for others to enjoy.
The possibilities are endless.

Tonight I am away from home in the Black Country (west of Birmingham, UK) staying in a hotel and after watching the video decided to get out for a bimble. Over the rest of the month I will try and post up a bit about nature (with the occasional bit of wildness thrown in), be that on my own, with my family or with friends.

I did not have my DSLR with me on this trip so decided on my walk tonight to test my mobile phone to its limits and see what beauty I could find in this urban landscape I am currently staying in.

A few pictures of my evenings stroll.

Photo 03-06-2015 19 45 37 — A splash of red

Photo 03-06-2015 19 47 59 — Urban beauty – Hogweed

Photo 03-06-2015 19 30 16 — Mayweed mossie

Photo 03-06-2015 19 55 36 — Foxxie Finger – Foxglove

Photo 03-06-2015 19 50 33 — Standing proud – Ribwort Plantain

Photo 03-06-2015 21 08 03 — Comfortable Cleavers

Photo 03-06-2015 21 00 10 — Sticky Willie trap

Photo 03-06-2015 22 04 39 — Frog Hopper Foam

Photo 03-06-2015 20 25 18 (1) — Deadly Double

I think my phone has passed muster on this one so lets see what the rest of the month brings.

Cheers

George