TITLE: My spot in the woods in Autumn DATE: 2018-11-02 AUTHOR: John L. Godlee ==================================================================== At the weekend I went to my favourite spot just outside Edinburgh to check up on what has been happening. I cycled out of Edinburgh on my black road bike, taking a backpack with some essential bike repair stuff like a multitool, patches, tyre levers and a pump. I also took a few small bits used for wood-working, an axe, big fixed blade knife, spoon knife, and a folding saw. ![Bike](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/spot_autumn/bike.jpg) The autumn leaves were at their peak, with beautiful golden coppery colours. ![Autumn leaves](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/spot_autumn/leaves.jpg) When I got to my spot, which I don't think many people know about, I found that I had a lot of work to do. The oak tree that I normally sit under had lost a limb, presumably it had split off in the high wind we had in September. I found that the fallen limb had covered a lot of the space so I decided to process some of the wood and hide it in a spot under an overhanging tree root to keep it dry until I came back. ![Fallen oak branch](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/spot_autumn/limb.jpg) There was also a large straight silver birch that had been uprooted in the high winds and had slid down the hill a bit. I intend to go back and collect some of that later with a big saw later in the year. The sedges that mat the woodland floor around there are really nice to sit on to do some woodcarving ![Sedges](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/spot_autumn/sedge.jpg)