Ice age

Philip still forswears hi-vis.

File this one under, should have known better.

Fag end of storm Eunice brought us snow. Which is always vile for working outdoors. But we soldiered on and I think we are all heroes - apart from me who was more of a donkey leading lions.

We were: Stephen, Sophie, Richard, Matthew, Harry, Peter, Hap, Dave, Philip, Cath, Geoff, Jess, Tanya, Kayleigh, and Kai. 

Gave up and ran away, so ended up taking an unknown number of trees away unplanted. Some are in a bag in my backyard. Tools could be anywhere, I have half a dozen. Started with a dozen. Dave took some tools and trees.

Everyone got home alive, which is something.

This song is properly what it felt like.

If there is even a wisp of a cloud in the sky next week I'm staying in bed.

https://youtu.be/cDrBTr5HOrI

After consulting recovering participants, and counting what I'd got in the bag, it was apparent that we planted 157 trees. 27 Scots Pine, 36 Sessile Oak, 58 Downy Birch, and 36 Rowan.

All tools also now accounted for.

This is how it looked 4 days later. 

YOLO

 

After this years serious problems with supply of trees and approvals to plant we are staggering towards the end of the season and using the trees we have to improve a previously planted eWGS site at Scammonden.

We were: Cath, Gillie and Ruth, Jess and Lee, Jon and Tessie, Ben, Dave, Geoff, Hap, Richard, Philip, and myself.

We planted 100 sessile oak, 25 aspen, 15 downy birch, 15 hazel 15 hawthorn, and 15 rowan.

Weather was terrible. But we got it done.

There's something relevant in this song, obliquely.

https://youtu.be/z5Otla5157c

The wind

Tanya's splendidly kinetic picture of grass and heather blowing

 Storm Malik made this morning very invigorating. Up on Wholestone moor was just the place to appreciate it. We were; Geoff, myself, Kai, Jess, Lee, Dave, Tanya, Richard, Peter, Cath and Julia. Cake was peanut butter vegan cookies. Half a dozen bags of old tree guards were removed, and then the fun bit was carrying them down the hill in the literally howling gale.

Link below is not a music vid, but a clip from the 1928 silent film, the wind, starring Lillian Gish. About a woman driven mad by... the wind. Did I mention the wind?

https://youtu.be/dmjJ9uSchcM

All revved up with no place to go

Michael and Richard. Looked kind of dark up at Wholestone.

This week we were back in Marsden finishing off some woodland management. Having removed some large larch shading out other smaller trees we moved on to thinning out the smaller trees behind. End result being a more natural mix of sizes and varieties of tree, and better accessibility to the woodland for locals. As per agreement with Kirklees ,broken down fencing and wire were also removed and taken off site. We  were: Matthew, Kayleigh, Dave, Paul,  myself, Kai, Jess and Lee.

Meanwhile at Wholestone Moor were Geoff, Richard, Hap, Steve, Michael and Shelley, collecting old tree guards and reusable stakes.

Of course, we'd rather be planting trees, but we are just....

https://youtu.be/eWVmRvq50kQ

Me and Kai. Looks brighter in Marsden