As per usual it’s been a
busy couple of weeks here at the farm. Our Christmas elf trail is now fully up
and running, and we have already had nearly 400 children through the door in
the opening week!
Last weekend brought a
visit from our friend Beth and her little boy Jack. We had a great time taking
Jack around the farm and to the seaside, and spent endless hours playing with
his toys. Once he was tired in the evenings we actually got to spend some time talking
to Beth!
Beth kindly bought
down some DIY Christmas decorations, and we sat on one afternoon making paper chains
and designing cut out snowflakes. It was great fun and felt like we were back
at school again.
DIY Christmas Tree!
This week saw a couple
of school visits, and I finally got the chance to lead a school group for a
full day’s activities. We spent the morning meeting the animals and doing
activities along the nature trail, and the afternoon session was spent in the
kitchen learning how to make pizzas! Thankfully the children seemed to be well
behaved and interested in what was going on, so I think I will chalk that up as
a success!
As part of our diploma
we have this week been designing and conducting ecological surveys. Thanks to
the summer on Flat Holm we have some excellent experience of conducting
surveys, and the planning phase went quite smoothly. During the course of the
week we have surveyed the hedgerows in the orchard and the rocky shoreline down
at Goodrington Sands, and although neither survey turned up anything too
exciting hopefully we recorded all the data we will need. Let’s hope the results
and analysis sections go just as well!
Checking out the upper shore at Goodrington
With Christmas
creeping closer and closer, the Trust organised a volunteer party with mince pies
and mulled wine for all of the unpaid members of staff as well as casual
volunteers. It was a very kind gesture by the trust and a good way for us all
to meet some similar minded people who work at some of our other sites. It’s
amazing how many volunteers we have in one capacity or another, and it’s fair
to say that the amount of work that gets done wouldn’t be nearly possible without
them.
This weeks amusing news story comes from right here in Devon. Is it just me or could this be the coolest bathroom door ever?!...
