Retired people do strange things

[Zenith]

Hi everybody. I'm looking forward to taking an active part on the forum.

My wife and I have been retired for some years, but have recently fulfilled a long held ambition. Along with our son and daughter-in-law we've bought a 4 1/2 acre wood at Wolverley, Worcestershire. Our aim is to make it as nature friendly as possible, whilst also enjoying it for the peace and tranquillity it offers. We also want our grandchildren to be able to make dens and generally enjoy the outdoor environment. We've had the wood for a few weeks now and are taking things a bit at a time. The main thing we've been doing is removing Himalayan Balsam, oh, and eating blackberries.

Hopefully, we will be able to use the expertise of other, more knowledgeable people on this forum to occasionally guide us along our way.

[Dexter's Shed]

apart from clearing pathways in our woods, one of the first things we did was to set up a bird feeding area in the clearing we made to camp in, our kids call it the tree of life, as with all the assorted feeders hanging up, and bringing in all manner of birds, we also buried my late parents ashes under it, they were both bird lovers, and it seemed right that the money they left us, is what made goose wood a reality rather than a dream

[The Barrowers]

Hello and welcome

I would suggest that you do nothing for a year to see what the seasons bring

Enjoy

B and T

[Zenith]

Many thanks for the welcome. Apart from claering the Himalayan Balsm and making a few paths through the brambles that's what we'll probably do, although I will be making some nest boxes for birds and bats over the winter.

The only downside that I can see, or rather 'feel' at the moment is getting covered in bites from what I think are harvest mites. Very angry looking and itchy!

[Dexter's Shed]

we found the biting insects a pain too, a trip to the shops, we now have a bag full of sprays,wipes and lotions, plus insect repelling oil burners dotted around our campsite, burning the herb sage on the fire keeps them away too

[oldclaypaws]

'Chiggers' aka harvest mites are a real irritation for me too, they leave itchy unpleasant bumps on the legs, up to the knees. They must climb up the legs from the gap at the bottom of my troosers. Having done an image search for them they apparently they look like this;

b339db77a3f23da600a785d55cb81e01.jpeg

I've bought a bottle of lemon eucalyptus oil (used by many proprietary insect repellant brands) on fleabay and added it to a jar of cream. Trouble is it smells foul, and as well as repelling mites I think it drives friends away too. Don't use DEET if you have pets, its highly toxic to cats and dogs.

Hope you enjoy your new kingdom Zenith. Whatever other stuff is going on in the news or life, as soon as you get in the woods it just all disappears. They should prescribe woods on the NHS to combat depression and obesity (and hypothermia).

[oldclaypaws]

Sorry, that is apparently 'cheggers'. Also very irritating to some people, but not as likely to climb up your trousers and bite you. This is a chigger; (hard to tell the difference really).

chigger.jpg

[Zenith]

Many thanks for those suggestions. I reckon we'll be stocking up on a collection of them, especially as we want to camp in the woods, and I guess these critters are active during the best camping weather.

I'm not sure what would be worse, an infestation of chiggers or an infestation of Cheggers.

[Dexter's Shed]

what could be worst than cheggers you ask?

a bunch of friends camping a couple of days after samhain (google it) celebrating the end of the season, and animals of the forest, yes its fancy dress, and Im going as a fox!!!!

[Zenith]

Hang on, that sounds fun. I must get myself one of those costumes.