Today was great! Just me and about a dozen blokes in their mid 20s to late 30s!!!!! Cos I was the only female I spent most of it operating the chainsaw while the lads did the fetching and carrying then the last couple of hours were spent sort of weaving the tree trunks in to a kind of platform which next week's workparty will turn in to a part of a walkway over a bog. Remind me not to use that walkway!
One worrying thing - I'm waiting to die. When I got to the meeting point the organisers had got a fire going with coffee brewing and a pan with a load of mushrooms cooking for sandwiches (most of the people there were veggie so no bacon) - being the only female I got the first sandwich and OMG it was great - thick doorsteps of homemade nutty wholemeal bread with garlicy, buttery mushrooms in the middle - I ate the whole sandwich in double quick time knowing I'd work off all those calories (but I didn't have seconds like most people!) The mushrooms tasted stunning - kind of unusual - and I said so - then I was told that they'd been picked on the Moors this morning!

I honestly didn't know that any of the fungi growing there was edible.
I now have a tummy ache - its possible that humping that chainsaw around has strained a muscle - but it COULD be revenge of the killer mushrooms.

I think I'm off mushrooms for life now.
The dogs were great. I was asked to tie them up while we were using the equipment but after a few minutes one of the lads nudged me and told me to look at the dogs - they had both slipped their collars (they don't like being tied up) but were lying there fast asleep right next to their leads. The only drama was Fred falling in a ditch (again).