The vast rice terrace fields of the Kingdom of Kent

Who is missing our English Bluebells? A bluebell a week until they wake again next year #11

Use your senses to ‘learn’ woodland Not for a minute, sit with your back against a tree for an hour Become aware of things that weren’t seemingly there before, smells appearing from nowhere, feel leaf & branch debris on your face 1/2

Nothing to see here, just one of half a million Giant Redwoods in Britain Of course it’s still a long trek to visit them in the wild, even in the Kingdom of Kent. This one is 20 yards off Tonbridge High Street 🥵🌲

Æðelsceadu the oak seedlings new leaves are in full photosynthesis mode 😎

Ēadmēdu the oak seedling - the tree equivalent of a puppy that’s all big ears & paws

WHO WANTS A HUG 🤗🌳

A photo a week of Spring in our woodland until everything wakes up again #1

The Ledyard Oak - Connecticut A 400 year old white oak that was the largest in the state, & second largest in the country. Sadly the tree died in 1969 after gypsy moth caterpillars ate all of its leaves, & the tree never recovered

Ēadmēdu & Æðelsceadu the oak seedlings together

The natural grace of an oak seedling called Noble Shadow A literal translation of the Old English Æðelsceadu, or Addleshade if the word still existed

Blackbird musical chairs has started Males are returning to their territories after moulting, whilst younger males are looking for their own The young male that just landed on Bert’s fence, & then his favourite tree, has no idea he is opening the very gates of hell 😬🫣

The Step Tree - Fredville Park, the Kingdom of Kent Before the First World War the owners of the house and park used to take tea on the platform they built in this massive sweet chestnut, one of the oldest in the country An Oliver is seen resting on a lower limb

Æðelsceadu the oak seedling continues to unfurl its first leaves

There is a distinct musty smell in Ancient English Woodland It is up to 15,000 years of the dead, the dying, and those living off its legacy It is the smell of history, and I live and breath it, just like our trees

Æðelsceadu the oak seedling is unfurling the first leaves

It is only 13 days since Ēadmēdu the oak seedling broke ground The priority is to increase leaf area so photosynthesis becomes the main source of chemical energy before the acorn runs out of fuel You can just see the acorn below the leaves

So massive it looks photoshopped. It isn’t The Cotton Tree (Ceiba pentandra) - Freetown, Sierra Leone It fell during a storm in May 2023, and the nation mourned, although a fragment of the tree remains alive

Bert just tapped once on my study window. Having cracked the code: Once means that the bird feeder is empty. Bert doesn’t even use it, rather he hoovers up the crumbs underneath that smaller birds leave Twice means the bird bath is empty Bert knows 🐦‍⬛

Ēadmēdu the oak seedling’s leaves are rapidly expanding in size, & photosynthesis is supplementing the energy from the acorn An acorn is like the booster rockets of the Space Shuttle. Useful for the start, but when empty they detach and fall away

This is Noble Shadow A literal translation of the Old English Æðelsceadu, or Addleshade if the word still existed This is a Kingdom of Kent acorn 🫡🌳 Our little hero has finally decided to reach for the sky

Who is missing our English Bluebells? A bluebell a week until they wake again next year #10

As the lights go out all over the world, be a shining beacon It is important everyone knows there is still good out there, and where to find it The darker it gets, the more you shine Do not lose your humanity

The garden is devoid of feathered aviators Only gravity challenged Big Dave wanders, randomly checking under leaves Through the increasing light a familiar silhouette appears. His confidence returning, Bert is making short flights Bert World is returning to normal ☺️🐦‍⬛

This is one happy oak seedling

How to train your oak seedling 🌱 Resistance workouts are important for all living things You need to replicate the wind that indoor trees will face when in the wild later, or they will not survive There is only one way to this

Hail Ēadmēdu, most graceful of trees

Shivelight and shadowtackle Fast changing shafts of sunlight piercing or filtering through foliage and the canopy of a wood The words were created by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins in 1888

Ēadmēdu the oak seedling An Old English word meaning Grace

European Beech with no name, or a name only known to other Beech trees Fraïsse-sur-Agout, France

When I worked in the City of London I regularly had lunch close to where William Blake is buried ‘Close to’ because as the first tombstone says, they didn’t actually know Well now they do, and I had lunch with Bill yesterday

This is Ēadmēdu An Old English word meaning Grace Pronounce ‘aid-meh-doo’

The leaves of our oak seedling continue to increase in size, and the stem darkens as the first bark develops

My eldest son Oliver is with Elliott my youngest for the weekend Priorities are beer, gaming, football (Notts County, but keeping an eye on the Bromley score ) Oh, & the 550 year old Arbour Oak in Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Taken by Elliott, 6’ 6’’ Oliver for scale

A flash of gloss black just flew inches over my head Birds don’t do that unless they are comfortable with their human Maybe he saw the shirt I am wearing 😬🐦‍⬛

The oak seedling has opened its first leaf canopy The leaves will now increase in size to ramp up photosynthesis, whilst the root system continues to spread to source moisture and anchor the tree

Ancient Woodland Scene

Nature’s Gold, England’s Glory

When windy place your best ear to the bark of an oak tree, and with a hand stop all noise entering the other ear When you get used to the embarrassment from the looks of passers by, you can concentrate on listening THROUGH the tree to the trunk & branches working with the wind

Within the damp and clinging earth, Where darkness spans a world unseen, An acorn dreamed; and, dreaming, saw blue skies and forests green Ella Maxwell Haddox

Who is missing our English Bluebells? A bluebell a week until they wake again next year #9

Everyone who buys a Bert Shirt is providing a few pennies over cost towards raisins for Bert & Family And you know how Bert will thank you 😬🐦‍⬛ www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/...

First leaves, officially an oak seedling ☺️🌳

Ancient Woodland Scene

One of the most beautiful trees in Europe is the 550 year old Arbour Oak in Wollaton Park, Nottingham My youngest son is at university in the City, and took this photo 30mins ago

Get yourself a Bert Shirt 🐦‍⬛ Selling at cost plus a few pennies to buy raisins for Bert & his family www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/...

Did the human mention Raisins?

After the Battle of Camlann, King Arthur's final battle, Knight of the Round Table Sir Bedivere cast Excalibur into the waters of Llyn Ogwen, where it was caught by the Lady of the Lake The mountain behind is Tryfan, said to be Sir Bedivere's final resting-place

Acorns Dream

Meet Hercules 🙂🌳 Our biggest oak by far. In fact also one of the tallest trees in the Kingdom of Kent To be that tall you need a solid foundation This is a solid foundation