As I write this I'm looking at the forecast for the weekend. Snow! What's all that about after the really mild weather we've had reently which almost heralded the early onset of Spring.

Well, things happened quite early around here. First to show were the Snowdrops of course then Dog's mercury creeping up through the undergrowth and then Celandine in the warmer areas. Young nettles are now appearing. It will soon be time for nettle tea and soup.

I've been lucky enough to sleep out for a couple of nights about every two weeks

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We're now well into winter. So far it's been quite mild with only a couple of days frost, so I've not really been able to test out my "wool" revolution. I've swopped out a couple of clothing items (noticably undergarments) for wool products. It's certainly

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As the leaves fall rapidly from the trees, the temperature drops and the deer bark their rutting calls; my thoughts are now turning to preparations for the winter. I learnt a lot from

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I was lucky enough to be invited to the Essex Group Meet weekend. We arrived on the Friday and set up in a narrow piece of woodland backing onto a water-filled old quarry. This

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There won't be too many of these around now until next summer, so I thought we could enjoy the last of the summer dragonflies.

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I decided to spend some time watching the ponds at my local Forestry Commission wood. There are about 30 permanent ponds of various sizes. Sunday was bright and warm and I was rewarded with the standard appearances of the Emperor, the Common, Southern and Migrant hawkers and Common darter.

I have been advised to put a stick at a 45 degree angle at the side of

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I spent Saturday specifically on a special kind of tracking mission. To track down a couple of local landowners to seek permission to use two local woods that I've wandered through, but never spent any time in.

After a bit of detective work, I ended up in front of a typical manor house (sculptured garden, lake, the whole works). I introduced myself and explained that I wanted to ask permission to track and watch the wildlife. I didn't mention Bushcraft. I thought that this would

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I've been quite busy in the last couple of weeks since the Bushmoot. It's always happens. You get inspired by new skills and the kit you've seen... Mmmm... especially all that nice new shiny kit! I've actually listed kit I don't use regularly with the intention of avoiding the "I'll take it just in case" syndrome. Inevitably there's a wish list of more stuff I'd like to get "Just to see if it works." Can't win can you?

Despite

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I know it's a bit of a cliche, but isn't this the best feeling in the world? You can't help but learn at bushmoots, and my head is still spinning with information. I couldn't wait to get into the woods this weekend to put some new found knowledge into practice.

I know it's been said before, but a huge thanks to everyone who ran the workshops

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  I returned from Shadowhawk's tracking course at Canonteigne on Monday mentally and physically tired, wet, but elated. It's easy to over-enthuse about a course when you've just finished it, so I'll just let it all sink in. But the first impressions are that it was an amazing, eye-opening course that exceeded all my expectations.

Back to reality. My

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