The first frosts have come so there will be no more mushroom gathering, the cold kills them off. My Facebook friend Peter goes out into the woods nearly every day foraging for his dinner and the autumnal mushrooms he finds are his main source of wild food. There are many mushrooms in Greggs Wood, ceps, boletes and others, just right for cooking a la naturel on an open woodland fire, the best food there is.
John Chappell is doing a superb job cleaning out the sunken detritus behind the island at the north end of the lake, there is a lot of sludge and sunken logs and the aim is to make the island inhabitable by the bird life once again, as it was years ago. He also wants to make this channel navigable by fish again, carp used to swim in there and they will be able to in future when the work is done.
On grey days such as we have now the woods do not look very inviting at all, but they are if one is shown where to look for hidden plants, birds, insects and deer.
Even the lake looks dank and drear, the colourful leaves have gone, the fishermen have gone also (exept a few diehards) so the lake looks as if humanity had left it alone for decades. My imagination tells me it looks like a lake from Lord of the Rings, the lake to the entrance to the mines of Moiria with a Balrog in wait inside the woods to trap the unwary. But we here in Sherwood do not have any Wizards to fight it.
I do have a favourite spot near the lake where I like to sit and feel nature soothing my soul with quiet and calm, it is balm for the spirit and oil for the heart. Maybe you, gentle reader could also find this if you would care to visit the lake and woods. Take care and stay safe out there, visit us to get some heartsease.
