Wood

Today’s theme has been wood, in its various forms. We heard a noise from the nearby woods yesterday and I investigated today. Periodically, the woodsmen enter a part of the woods, owned by one of the locals and cut it down to the ground. In the past, they would have managed them by hand, but now the machines do the job.  Extra pics are of the huge logger, which cuts and handles the whole tree. The area was about 200 metres by 50 metres.  The extra pic with my walking stick is to show the size of the oak that had been felled. My stick is 1m70 long, so the tree is well over 2 metres in diameter. It must be hundreds of years old.  The wood will be converted into pellets for heat systems. What you see here is one day’s work. They are here for a month, according to the signs. The greater spotted woodpeckers were disoriented completely by the loss of their habitat, home also to the deer, wild boar, pheasants, quail, partridges and red squirrels. Oh, and forget getting any more Ceps from here once the sun has got at it this summer. Not so much management, as destruction for short-term profit. We live in a rural part of France and there is no space for sentimentality, sadly. In parallel, we needed to manage our garden, so clippings, pruned branches and general detritus were authorised for a small burn. I worry about the impact on greenhouse gases, but we do this about 3-4 times a year. Again, no choice because the commune has changed its municipal dump rules which stop us using trailers properly. (Long story - for another day). Final pic is of the sunset with the bonfire.