Woodland days

Meeting up with friends at a local woods, personally my favourite woods, which are so quiet even on the most summery of days.  Walking up a hill to a nearby church we spotted a rather impressive looking caterpillar.  He was a very big chap, probably about 6 or 7 cm long.  Research, when we got home, suggests it is a drinker moth caterpillar, apparently named as they like to drink dew drops.

 We reached the top, admired the views, investigated the church, and decided we'd retreat from all these very strange, black flies that were everywhere, to go and have a picnic in the wood.

 Some impressive bark.  Easily pleased, me!

 Some recent woodland management left a wonderful playground for the children.  Sophie spent a while playing with the sawdust.  Others were walking along felled trees, and we also looked at the rings of the tree, but it wan't clear enough for us to tell how old it was.

 Some bracket type fungi adorned this tree stump.  I showed Sophie and asked her if the fairies lived there, her reply was "why not?"

 This wood, in the past, has had loads of dens made from fallen branches.  Many of the dens were not there anymore, but we found one, which the boys added to, and then Luke went off to build his own den, with the help of younger friends.

 Sophie reckoned it was the little piggies house from the three little pigs, here she is taking Stuart along to look. 

 A wonderful afternoon passed, with the adults sat on a mossy bank, watching the children playing to their hearts content in such a natural setting. 

This evening, Ethan said that today had been as good as legoland.  So it sounds like it was the perfect way to finish our Easter break.