TIMBER !!!

Our Sunday afternoon walks over the past few weeks have revealed the impact of the very heavy snowfall of 23/24 January. Apart from numerous power lines which, while still functioning, are touching the ground where they have become detached from their supports, the most obvious feature is the huge number of trees which have been broken by the weight of the snow.

Those of you with a romantic notion of the tranquillity of the countryside might be surprised by how noisy it is in reality. Tractors, bellowing bulls and dogs barking are all part of the (pleasant) cacophony we live with. But in January and February the predominant sound is that of the chainsaw. All over the countryside, wood is being harvested, cut to length and stored. This year, the whole process has been expanded to cope with the huge number of trees that have been brought down or badly damaged by the snow.

In an earlier posting we mentioned that one of our fine old apple trees had lost some big branches in the snow. However, we discovered recently that we had another significant casualty. We have a ‘part-time’ pond with, by extension, a ‘part-time' island in the middle of it. Growing on the island is, or rather was, a gnarled old willow. We noticed that the snow had caused some branches to break but it was only a few days ago that we decided to don the wellies (our spell-check suggests 'willies', 'bellies', 'jellies', 'tellies' and 'weeklies' as options for this exotic and unrecognisable word) and paddle across to see the extent of the damage.

We found that it was done for. Huge cracks extended down the trunks to ground level so it had to go. Cue a day-and-a-half of backbreaking work with the chainsaw. After all the major trunks had been felled, we had to cut them into useful lengths for storing for future use and then drag all the useless wood across the pond and cut them into shorter lengths ready to put on a bonfire. Still we now have quite a decent amount of fuel for winter 2008/9 and the prospect of the tree re-shooting and providing us with more wood in the future. Unfortunately, Mr A now has a sprained body.



HAS SPRING SPRUNG?

The woodpeckers are hammering away at the trees like mad things. This is not a search for food but an effort to attract a mate by demonstrating a very hard head. (Sounds like Newcastle on a Saturday night.) The crocuses are in bloom; bluebell leaves are in evidence; bees and birds are checking out possible nesting sites; the days are warm and smell beautiful; the parsnips we’ve yet to dig up are beginning to shoot again (must get on with that!); the fruit bushes are in bud; hedgehog droppings are in evidence in the garden; the cranes are back. To cap it all though, we came across a field of sheep yesterday with loads of newborn lambs. Ah!

DO THE FRENCH LOVE TO DEMONSTRATE!?

From ‘The Connexion’: In Nantes on New Year's Eve, marchers displaying banners saying ‘No to 2007’ and ‘Now is better’ urged the UN to ‘stop time’s mad race’. As clocks struck midnight, undeterred by the apparent failure of their campaign, the demonstrators simply changed their chants from ‘No to 2007’ to ‘No to 2008’.

We love it here!