Gone, but not forgotten

Last year we had to have our dog, Jarvis, put to sleep. We'd had him from a puppy and although he was only 10 1/2 when he died, like a typical cocker spaniel, he lived life at 100mph and his passing left a hole in our lives that will take a long time to heal. We scattered his ashes in the woodland and pond.

Clean bedding

For the last few years, since we lived here, he'd got into the habit of raiding the log store and most days I'd see him trotting off into the distance with a log in his mouth. I've still no idea why he did this as he never seemed to chew them, just carried them away for me to find with the mower later on (easiest way to find something lost in the grass is to first spend a long time sharpening and balancing a mower blade). I still come across logs dropped in the woodland which must provide some habitat for invertebrates but today I stumbled across this:

The Jarvis Tree

This is a willow (grey, I think) tree that has sprouted from a log dropped onto the damp ground. It's fallen over but otherwise looks pretty healthy. It's nice to know that he's left a reminder and maybe this was his plan all along?