Hacking holly – and mid winter sun

This was intended to be a post about an extremely enjoyable morning hacking holly earlier this week (see below) – but the winter sun on the heath as I walked back from South End Green this afternoon was so lovely that I could not resist including it. And how irrestibile were those mandarin ducks on the stock pond, both eyeing me beadily even though their beaks were tucked underneath their wings.

Further down on the mixed bathing pond I had met one of our herons enjoying the burst of sun –

before taking flight a minute later.

Around Kenwood woods the sun was also working its magic – both on the sweep of trees and then on the green lichen on their branches.

But it was not to last. By the time I got home, the sun had gone – and now it is raining again…. Maybe it will clear enough to give us another dramatic sunset?

Holly hacking

But back to the holly. On Tuesday, the last Heath Hands session before the holiday, we were in Highgate Woods, in the northwestern corner near the playground which is fenced off and out of bounds to humans. It is not a huge space – but enough to give the woods’ wildlife a break from us. There are a couple of tiny ponds – and there was a lot of holly. Holly is almost as invasive as ivy and, in my book, a lot unpleasanter thanks to its very sharp prickles.

The fencing around this little enclave is distinctly elderly and although it has been reinforced by a few new posts, it would not keep a determined five year old out. So the plan was to weave the holly into the fence thus created a more substantial barrier. We started using relatively small pieces (and yes the sun was shining on that day too)  –

but soon realised we could do better than that. Using the trunks from the bigger trees we were felling as uprights –

we could create a really solid hedge that I would defy any human or dog to get through.

There was some disagreement between those who wanted to weave the holly and those who wanted to trim it…..

But all was resolved over a cup of tea – and yes, on Tuesday there were dark chocolate digestives!!! Special Christmas treat.