Norway Spruce

There are quite a few of these trees in the wood. There is one thing I am unsure of though. Their lower branches are all knocked off, the foliage being left high up on the bole. Has this been done on purpose to encourage rapid top growth, and therefore nice long planks, or is it animals?  An educated guess would be it is more likely that the canopy is heavy and lets little light through, starving the branches and making them weak and redundant.


The long cylindrical cones of this tree lie about at all times of year, sometimes nibbled like corn on the cob by the squirrel massive.  I do not exaggerate - we are over-run and they are FAT!

It's snow accident....

... that this one is not actually in my little A6 sketchpad.  It is more of a tree-scene, and therefore worthy of inclusion (I hope)!  Also blogged on Doodles.

January 1st 2010 - janus tree

I am not sure what the name of this tree is - only that it is semi-ornamental and there was a long-eared bat living in it a few years ago.  It seemed an apt choice for the 1st of January as it has two sides.  It reminded me of the Roman god, Janus, looking back with one face on the old year, and another face looking forward to the new.

Half covered in moss with the other side mainly free, it has a split personality.  Looking tropical, believe me, it was not.  I sketched this briefly before returning home to finish off with a photograph.