If you go down to the woods today...

You won't find me there, not after last week. Although I did meet Ray Mears. Unbelievably, he tramps round the countryside with a chip van that's always just out of shot. And has a team of (First Nation) people who pick up his discarded wrappers and chip forks. But apart from that he's exactly like he is on the telly - top bloke.

Eight things I've learnt this week:

- Drinking dirty water is bad
- Beech leaves taste a bit like lettuce
- Some trees are poisonous
- I'm not very good at carving spoons
- I'm slightly better at carving tent pegs
- It's a bit pointless to carve things that you can buy really cheap, light and easy to carry versions of (like spoons and tent pegs)
- Making fire with a cigarette lighter is easier than rubbing two bits of wood together
- Ray Mears is really really nice

I'm figuring out how to put pictures on the infoweb so before long you'll be able to look at mine, rather than just links to other people's. But it may take some time.

See you anon.

mr bushcraft