There was no-one else around, the sun was shining, two robins came to see me and I was in paradise for a while
Welcome to 'Forest bathing'. Chuck a few logs around and Robbies always turn up, didn't you know spades are really designed for Robins to perch on, rather than digging?
Sounds like a sample of my typical early afternoon. Overdid it a bit at the weekend so have taken it easy today, spent an hour or two doing new carefully arranged deadwood heaps. Getting quite good at making them in attractive 'organic' shapes, like snakey ones, 'nests', tree shaped ones. Always save the nicest lichen and moss covered old rotting logs for the top. After a few months the moss spreads, flowers creep through, and it becomes bug and fungi city. I notice where the bluebells are growing through an old deadwood heap, they are three times the size and very healthy looking, they must be fed by the nutrients from the decaying wood.
Nothing like a spot of 'Zen gardening' among the spring flowers to recharge the batteries.
This has been the happiest winter I can recall, all down to daily trips to the wood- you can't put a price on feeling that content.