Fungus.

Or should that be Fungi as there appears to be a number of fruiting bodies?

I might have finished the woodwork at the Lodge if on examination I hadn't decided that putting one of the old pieces back would be "spoiling the ship for a Ha'porth of tar".  So a trip to the saw mill was called for.  Because of time constraints we were asking for a piece PAR (planed all round) and of exact sizes to match the rest of the veranda rails.  This necessitated a search through mountains of wood for a piece which wouldn't cut too much to waste.  Finally a bit of Siberian Larch was produced.  I had assumed things like larch would be home grown but it seems not.  Larch for its better resistance to rot than some of the soft woods.

While there I spotted a log which had obviously been overlooked/discarded/fallen from favour.  This fungus had found it a suitable home.  There was a ring of fruiting bodies round much of the end of the log.  There position would suggest they were growing between the bark and the sap wood or perhaps just into the sap wood.  I haven't a clue what the thing is called other than it is a fungus.  Personally I might b e tempted to suggest it was a bracket of some kind but I suspect I would be wrong.