Preparedness for when

thriftwizard

This weekend the first cuckoo of the season was heard in the woods where my Dad walks. Apparently the beggars only spend about 6 weeks in the country before burgering off back to Africa. How on earth did a creature evolve such strange and energy-consuming reproductive habits?

Well, it's not as if they have to put anything into raising their young, is it? Some other poor bird gets to exhaust itself doing all that, and its own chicks didn't stand a chance. DD2 & I both heard & saw one two weeks ago, flying down the edge of the woods on the other side of the river.

[Deleted User]

It's OK MAR you don't have to even go near a tree if you don't want to. I don't mind the insect life and I love the colour of the tiny first unfurled leaves on oaks particularly, that bright bronze green is beautiful. I don't mind open places, heaths, moorlands, rolling agricultural land, stock grazing fields, mountains I love the lot what freaks me out is big cities I hate 'em with a vengeance! and I also don't care greatly for vast tracts of pine forest, I find those a bit dark and sombre.

Grim old day out there this morning but the gardens need the water and we've not had much rain for quite a while.

Karmacat

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

It's OK MAR you don't have to even go near a tree if you don't want to. I don't mind the insect life and I love the colour of the tiny first unfurled leaves on oaks particularly, that bright bronze green is beautiful. I don't mind open places, heaths, moorlands, rolling agricultural land, stock grazing fields, mountains I love the lot what freaks me out is big cities I hate 'em with a vengeance! and I also don't care greatly for vast tracts of pine forest, I find those a bit dark and sombre.

Grim old day out there this morning but the gardens need the water and we've not had much rain for quite a while.

Could have been me writing that except I don't just not-mind open places, I love them, including the sea :j Yesterday, I was in the tourist resort where I used to live until I moved here 5 years ago, and it was horrendous I can't tell you how glad I am to be in this low-density little town :j

Mar - sorry its that bad for you, but at least you won't often run across woods where you live now ...

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

Mar, for what it's worth, I feel the same about bare hills and mountains as you do about woods. Up there, where there should be trees and they've all been deforested by human beans and bliddy sheep, and there's no cover, and the poor soil is degraded and the bare bones are sticking out of the landscape (rocks). *Shudders*

That blasted heathland is where I'm most at home, the bones poking through heather and bracken. looking down on pockets of mixed woodland in some of the valleys (and plantations of trees scarring the land).

I'm less keen on the dreaded midge that haunts the trees round here particularly late summer/autumn. But generally have no issues with the critters that share the space.

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

what freaks me out is big cities I hate 'em with a vengeance! and I also don't care greatly for vast tracts of pine forest, I find those a bit dark and sombre.

I used to enjoy the buzz and energy of the big cities, though the limit was about a week. And there'd be several weeks of hangover while I got back to the right slower rythms of life. Now they've lost there appeal and I prefer the more gentle places instead.
As for vast tracts of forestry, the're dark dank sterile holes that seem to suck the life out of me, and therefore avoided as much as possible.

Karmacat wrote: »

Could have been me writing that except I don't just not-mind open places, I love them, including the sea :j Yesterday, I was in the tourist resort where I used to live until I moved here 5 years ago, and it was horrendous I can't tell you how glad I am to be in this low-density little town :j

I have a strange fascination with the sea, I love its bleakness and can get lost for hours just watching it.

Mar - sorry its that bad for you, but at least you won't often run across woods where you live now ...

Mainly because our ancestors kept torching the forestry and ever since the sheep have kept it from growing back.

moneyistooshorttomention

Guess we tend to like what we are used to.

Me - I like gently rolling hills with a noticeable number of (non-coniferous) woods around and generally a decent number of trees around the place and generally a "soft"-looking landscape iyswim (rather than a harsher/bleaker one).

Then add that I like gardens to look like gardens (ie not "concrete gardens") and for them to be stocked with a wide variety of things in peoples various different gardens (not a limited selection). There has to be trees (not leylandii obviously) and flowers in peoples gardens and not just shrubs.

fuddle

I yearn for the chance to visit the West Coast of Scotland. In my opinion the beauty of the valleys, glen and mountainous regions with their covered heather, is to absorbed at any given opportunity... from the footpath! Ticks galore, not to mention midges.

I also love the rural counties of where I live now. I also appreciate the rugged coastline and all it has to offer in terms of changing picture depending on what time you visit or what weather welcomes you.

I even like my small town. I'm not a huge fan of towns but I quite like this one but do you know what spoils everything for me?

People! :rotfl:

People bring chaos and ruin, they bring frustration and selfishness. I generally find that the memories I form from an experience are really dependant on how many people were there with me and whether consumerism is overly at play in order to attract more people. I get it, I just don't like it. I'm a tourist. I have no right to moan :rotfl:


Nuatha why did our ancestors torch forests?

nuatha

fuddle wrote: »

Nuatha why did our ancestors torch forests?

I was specifically referring to Mar's* and mine, the borders were home to the riding families also known as the reivers. Among other pastimes was cattle raiding, it wasn't unusual to set a barn or two alight to distract the raided from following the raiders.
At school I was taught that the Cheviots had been denuded to build ships for Henry VIII's navy. Certainly some of the area was felled to build ships (and the buildings to support the building) but it turns out a lot more was the result of the ongoing internecine lifestyle.

*As I was typing that, I half remembered that Mar's ancestry wasn't from the borders, in which case I apologise for any distress** caused.

** I grew up being told about the crimes of my family, we had cattle rustlers (and sheep rustlers, but that was more shameful) firelighters (not arsonists but ship wreckers) sellswords and deserters, though the barely mentionable was a lawyer and even worse an MP. I assumed most families had similar histories until I learned that things were more civilised away from the borders.

Karmacat

"Sellswords"!!! Brilliant word, thanks nuatha, never heard that. I don't have any border folk in my history, back to the 1850s on all counts, and the 1750s on a few counts, so, no, much more erm boring than that One of the most interesting stories is of a supercargo (trader who travelled with the ship) from the early 19th century who's said to have bought the land on which Wall Street now stands in New York. The story was strong enough that in the late 19th century, the family hired lawyers to investigate the claim! Not proved, sadly for me

fuddle

Durham isn't a kick in the backside off Northumberland but I wonder if it was far enough to be a little more civilised. There are still vast lands of scrubland (amongst the pit heaps) but nothing as vast as the northumberland borders.

kezlou

A lot of the foresty where i live was chopped for use in ship building but also to be used for moor land for the hunting parties of the rich. The majority of people do not realise that most if the North Yorkshire Moors are man made.

Luckily the Forestry Commission has managed to save some of the local woodland. In our little corner we have a mixture of moor and forest.