A couple of weeks ago I had a minor medical procedure* that has taken a little while longer than I expected to heal properly. The enforced lay up has unfortunately, brought my lazyitis to the fore.

*nothing remotely serious and completely elective

Having wasted Sunday laying around the house I managed to motivate myself to get out for a walk in the woods on Monday morning. The plan was to go and take some photos of the autumnal scenes I’ve been experiencing solely from the front seat of my van on my way to work each morning.

I’m far from an expert photographer but what I enjoy about doing this is that it forces me to slow down and look at my surroundings in a completely different way.

Monellan certainly didn’t disappoint 😍

Last year Coillte upgraded the forest roads in Monellan. I was concerned that we were going to lose another large section of trees as that’s usually the reason for any money being spent in an Irish forest. A couple of months ago I spotted spray markings scattered throughout the edges of the stands and I was sure I was correct.

When I returned about 5 weeks ago there was evidence of selective felling with wide swathes of trees removed, timber stacks on the trails and machinery still sitting around.

In typical Irish fashion this notice appeared after the work was pretty much completed 🤦🏻At least now I know what is the reason behind the strange pattern of felling!

It will be interesting to watch how this project develops over the years and see how the forest changes into a woodland. I have to say I’m relieved that we’re not going to see the whole thing just cut down even if this first stage is a bit barbaric.