The White family Christmas tree plantation must be almost half my age now and where neat little Norwegian Spruces once grew, skinny giants now dominate. Every year we select trees for each family and this year there was an added bonus – 12 foot of firewood with every specimen as only the tops are any good nowadays. Most years I make the mistake of choosing a tree I think Em will like. This year, wise to her exacting standards I bought back a selection of half a dozen and as a result the annual Christmas tree debate (a.k.a argument) has been avoided.
Chris and I finished the hedge in style last Thursday with a lunch of toasted sandwiches cooked in my double pie iron over the brash fire embers. We like to finish each job with a cook up and the sandwiches certainly rivalled last year’s billhook cooked panninis! On Friday there was time to take the guns out for a couple of hours, but our success was limited , one fox and one pigeon being the final bag. There is so little natural food around owing to the cool autumn and poor wild harvest that there is nothing in the woods to hold the few pheasants which have strayed this way. I did see a wood cock though, which is encouraging for my Christmas day breakfast.
Hedge layers lunch
Pat of the finished hedge