A Tree at Last!

It seems an age since I last got close to trees. Have they missed me? Well, I think they have! I encountered this tree creature in Gloucestershire. I am not sure whether it is suffering from a hangover and is that a dewdrop hanging from his snout. What do you think?

Jamjar Cottage - What happened next?

It was. It was . . . terrible. I woke up in a field, miles from anywhere, with both feet in a bucket filled with cement. I could hear the running water from the river that ran alongside. A menu card balanced on my chest said 'Be warned!'

When a passer-by finally found me, I knew I was safe for the moment. Once extracted from the cement, I went home. I knew I probably looked a mess, No, I did look a mess. How did I know? The look on the face of my cat Minnie told me everything . . .


I slept for hours, once I had checked every window was shut and doors locked and bolted. I had some very strange dreams. Well, dreams is perhaps the wrong word? Nightmare is more like it. I kept seeing a group of figures and it unsettled me. Had I imagined it or not? What had I got myself into?

Suddenly, everything in my life and everything I saw looked sinister, even the trees!


The whole thing was driving me absolutely . . .

To be continued . . .

Back to the Woods!

Last week, I spent two days at the Mottram Hall Hotel in Cheshire. Taking an evening constitutional in the garden (all 270 acres of it), I noticed a number of trees and rushed to get my camera. It felt so good to talk to some trees again- one or two were a bit frightening, while others looked a bit comical. I'll share some of my new friends with you over the next day or two.

Sooty Who Walks With Trees

This is Sooty. She has no teeth because of neglect by her previous owner. She can be quite mysterious. Until she became frail, she would walk to the nearby copse where the trees watch humans as they walk by [see my February posts]. Curiously, she would walk from tree to tree and lean against each in turn. There seemed to be some sort of connection or communication between her and the trees. Similarly, during the annual holiday to St David's in Pembrokeshire, she would walk each evening through the graveyard of the city's Cathedral. Sooty visited each grave in turn and would disappear behind the headstones for a few seconds before reappearing. She referred to them as "Sleepy People". Again, there seems to be some sort of connection with the graves, as there was with the trees. I wonder whether other dogs or, indeed, cats behave in a similar way?

The TreeThat Reached Out To Me

A brook flows silently through the valley below my cottage. An unofficial path runs alongside of it for about a mile. In summer, it is magical with orchids, deer and, on August evenings, bats perform aerobatics as they feed on flies. I felt some unease when I saw this tree on the opposite bank. It seemed to reach out to me. Sometimes it felt as if it was reaching out FOR me. I always quickened my pace when I passed by. It is strange that, in all the years I have walked that path, I hadn't noticed it before. It remained the whole summer. Then one day it vanished. There was no flood to wash it away and it, in any case, have been trapped by the trunk of a fallen tree further down the brook. I sometimes wonder if it had moved on elsewhere to try and lure an unwary human?

Tree Exposed

The side of a neighbour's tree fell away to expose the central core and and vein-like tendrils. I was so surprised at this view and it certainly illustrated how the sap rises - a fact that never occurred to me before. Now I think of them even more as living creatures . . .

Cemetery Avenue

This avenue of trees stands in the centre of my local cemetery which dates from Victorian times. It leads uphill and around the bend, but to where I do not know. I can't remember reaching the end. Has anyone seen a similar avenue in their local cemetery or graveyard?

A Twig that Walks

Twigs get everywhere, sometimes far from the trees from which they came. I noticed a twig in my garden and it moved! Do you have moving twigs in your gardens? Let me know.

Faces in the Trees

Here is a first look* at the wood where many of the trees who watch humans live. A flock of jackdaws sometimes pays a visit. I thought the featured face looked wolf-like. Others may see a different interpretation. I would be very interested to hear about what you see.

*As a newcomer to blogging, I thought I should try adding video to my blog. I hope it plays back well for you?