Over the last decade A and I have spent many sociable evenings within the round of this splendid building, warming ourselves by the fire listening to story-telling, live music and catching up with dear friends - so it was a real pleasure to be able to light my own fire within it's heart, and raise a glass of mead or two to a successful day's activity.
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| Butser Ancient Farm - "Iron Age" village |
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| Little Woodbury |
I shared the living space with an engaging and thoughtful technical writer, who was also writing her first novel set in those distant times, and had chosen the course to experience the colours, smells, skills and ambience of ancient home-life.
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| Evening light - looking west over Little Woodbury |
Butser AF is a dark sky site, so as night fell we lay on our backs outside the roundhouse observing the Milky Way, counting shooting stars - the meteors arisng from the annual Perseid shower - and watched as the ISS tracked overhead.
The evening's fire was out by morning - so I coaxed new flames from the cooling embers. Cracking.
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| a less than "authentic" sleeping arrangement? |
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| New flames coaxed from the night's cooling embers |
After breakfast, I walked home carrying a self-made spear, the product of yesterday's flint-knapping, spear shaft prep, and string making - a touch of pride in my step, and a heart full of joy.
In my absence A had kindly set the moth-trap overnight, so later that morning I emptied the trap, recording 47 moths of 20 spp. including the stonking Bulrush wainscot (Nonagria typhae) a somewhat unexpected moth for a garden set in a dry chalk valley? Although perhaps of local provenance coming from either Catherington or Clanfield Pond?
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| Bulrush wainscot |
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