Weather

At 8am the sunshine was brilliant, but the forecast wasn't too good,  -  strong  wind, wintry showers, sleet, maybe some snow, perhaps some sun, but as Herbie the dog doesn't mind what the weather's like when a day at the wood is in the offing, and we didn't want to disappoint him, we decided to chance it. Forestry work takes place all through the year, but the winter months tend to be the busiest, especially for felling, so there's no point in  moaning about the weather, or using it as an excuse not to do any work .

As we drove north the skies became ominously dark and soon we were in the middle of a storm of wind blown snow and sleet. It only lasted 10 - 15 minutes, and by the time we arrived at Old Copse the sun was shining again.  That was the pattern of the day, - freezing cold wind, rain and sleet, alternating with brilliant sunshine. But it's great to see the wood in all weathers. You don't see weather in town in such a close up way. Today you could see the weather happening; the heavy showers were announced by darkening skies followed by strong gusts of wind which made the trees, especially the pines, bend alarmingly. Then the rain would come sheeting down.

So today we were right in the middle of the weather, getting tasks done when the rain held off and the sun came out, and then dashing for shelter to the cabin to watch another blast of  gusty rain and wind pass through the wood, while warming up at the stove and drinking tea. An exhilarating day.

We  love a wood burning stove on a cold day

Visitors: We met Martin (bird expert) between showers -  he is contributing to an RSPB  survey of Marsh Tits, Willow Tits and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers who might (or might not) live in the wood. He had a tape of bird sounds with him, presumably to attract birds in the vicinity, but had to give up on this today because of the noise made by the wind in the trees. He is waiting for the next still, sunny day.