Tree surgery - 10m antenna still in place

We had our silver birch tree lopped today. This supports the end of my Par 10/20/40m end-fed wire antenna. This wire antenna is not very high and I was expecting to lose this when the tree was done. As it happens all the tree work was above this, so it is still in place.

Fallen tree - NOT amateur radio

Last week, we went for a walk at Brandon Country Park in Suffolk. On our walk, we passed this tree. I think it came down in high winds.

Autumn - NOT amateur radio

On the whole, it is much warmer at this time in October than I can ever recall. Perhaps someone can tell President Trump that global warming is a reality.  At one time we had snows in winter and winters were very cold. Now snow is a rarity.

In the last few days we have had some winds and the tree in our front garden has lost most of its leaves and now looks autumnal.

Tree rings - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we visited Brandon Country Park, Suffolk. This felled tree looks about 30 years old judging by the rings.

Felled beauty - NOT amateur radio

Today we visited Brandon Country Park, Suffolk on the edge of Thetford Forest. This tree was on the ground. Either it had been felled or it had blown down over the winter. We liked the textures and colours.

Sun in the trees - NOT amateur radio

As the sun was shining, we visited Brandon Country Park this morning. As it is winter the trees are bare so you can see more. Not much life stirring yet.

Tree surgeon - NOT amateur radio

This tree surgeon was busy at work in our village this morning. Rather him than me!

I noticed he had a machine to grind up the branches on his lorry. Otherwise there would be a lot of branches to deal with.

In this job a head for heights must help. I'd be useless!

Up a tree - NOT amateur radio

These days I am very poor on ladders, so I was grateful that my son cut a few tall branches from the tree in our lawn earlier this afternoon.

Crab apples - NOT amateur radio

Last year, we had very little blossom on our crab apple tree. This year we have loads. My wife gives the fruits to a friend who makes crab apple jelly, which is delicious. This should be a good year!

Tree to ID - NOT amateur radio

This is something very common I suspect, but I am very poor on trees! If you know what it is please let me know. It was seen yesterday in a wood at Reach, Cambridgeshire, UK. It was a tree in a wood.

Bark - NOT amateur radio

We went to nearby Anglesey Abbey yesterday.  I just love this tree bark. The texture is amazing.

Blickling Hall, North Norfolk - NOT amateur radio

Oriental Plane Tree?

This afternoon we drove to North Norfolk to the National Trust property at Blickling Hall. We'd been several times before and only went into the gardens. All the driving really tired me, so I sat on a bench in the shade whilst my wife took photos. I think this was an oriental plane that I sat under. It had seeds a bit like sweet chestnuts but the leaves were all wrong.

Tree Surgeon - NOT amateur radio

Tree Surgeon at work

If you look carefully there is a man 40 feet up this tree, in a Cambridge park today, with a chain saw. Rather him than me!

Warm sunshine and G3XBM up a tree

Today the sun has been shining and it's quite warm so I've been up the neighbour's tree lopping branches so that they don't obstruct the light. It is a field maple and it grows so fast. I took down branches about 4 metres long and these have grown in the last 3-4years. There is also a method in my madness: there's a sturdy branch just the right height to act as a support for the end of my longwire. It's twice as high as the original on the clothes line support. So, when the job is done I'll string out some black PVC covered wire. Also, for the first time this year I managed a cup of tea on the patio: maybe spring really is almost here at long last.

Electricity from trees?

A company called Voltree has some information on a system that generates electrical power from living trees. No, this is not a joke. See also the article on this in New Scientist magazine today.

Power levels are low, but the people involved believe there is enough energy to power monitoring systems and alert people of forest fires using energy derived from trees.