It's been quite some time since I last wrote my blog, over a month in fact, and so I decided it would be a good idea to try and get back into the swing of things again!
Over the last month I have only had one weekend off and have seemed to have worked an obscene amount of hours. So much so in fact that I have racked up an extra weeks worth of holiday to make up for all the extra hours! Writing time has therefore been at a premium, and when a small window has presented itself there hasn't really been that much to write about!
August has been mainly taken up with the children's holiday club that our organisation runs, where parents can pay to leave their children with us for the day and we take them out to do fun and interesting (hopefully) activities in the local area. Much of the time is spent doing more informal versions of the lessons that we run with school groups, however there is much more space for these sessions to be dictated by the interests of the children as opposed to their teachers!
While it has been busy I have ultimately enjoyed the work. Getting to work outdoors all the time is fantastic, and even if they don't necessarily realise it the children are learning new things all the time as well. One of the wildlife photography sessions we were running with the children turned up this beauty, a Great Green Bush Cricket.
Over the last month I have only had one weekend off and have seemed to have worked an obscene amount of hours. So much so in fact that I have racked up an extra weeks worth of holiday to make up for all the extra hours! Writing time has therefore been at a premium, and when a small window has presented itself there hasn't really been that much to write about!
August has been mainly taken up with the children's holiday club that our organisation runs, where parents can pay to leave their children with us for the day and we take them out to do fun and interesting (hopefully) activities in the local area. Much of the time is spent doing more informal versions of the lessons that we run with school groups, however there is much more space for these sessions to be dictated by the interests of the children as opposed to their teachers!
While it has been busy I have ultimately enjoyed the work. Getting to work outdoors all the time is fantastic, and even if they don't necessarily realise it the children are learning new things all the time as well. One of the wildlife photography sessions we were running with the children turned up this beauty, a Great Green Bush Cricket.
Great Green Bush Cricket. They live only in the south of England eating vegetation and other small insects. They can live for around 10 months.
With one day off recently Vicky and I were able to walk part of the South West Coast Path between Paignton and Berry Head. The changeable weather didn't dampen our spirits and we were rewarded when we arrived in Brixham with glorious sunshine overhead. Fueled with a portion of chips and an ice cream we made our way up to the headland where a range of wildlife decided to put on a show for us. A seal was keeping a few of the local anglers company in exchange for a share of their catch, while Gannets, Harbour Porpoises and the odd Dolphin were busy rounding up and catching fish not far out to sea.
Friday night saw us head over to Dartmouth for the regatta, with the Red Arrows leading the line up at 6.30pm. Unfortunately having made the epic trip through the traffic to get there in time, low cloud forced them to perform only their most basic of maneuvers before they disappeared off and out of sight.
The famous red, white and blue trails as the Red Arrows came into sight above the River Dart
The noise and maneuvers of the RAF Typhoon that preceded them left them upstaged slightly, but in their defence there was only one Typhoon in the sky and not 9 planes all trying to fly just meters away from one another.
Saturday was Vicky's birthday, and so I lined up weekend of surprises for her with the hope that the weather would play ball (which thankfully in the end it did).
After dropping her off for a massage to begin the weekend we made a trip to Kent's Cavern where we received a guided tour of the prehistoric cave system that sits so close to the town of Torquay. Some great finds have been made there over the years including the teeth of Woolly Mammoth, jaw bones of bears and even remains of Neanderthal man.
After a swift picnic in Cockington Country Park we made our way over to the Park's beehives, where a group of local beekeepers were holding an open meeting for people to come and check out the hives and learn more about the bees. We donned our protective suits and made our way inside where we were able to get up close and personal with about 15 bee hives. At this time of year each hive is supporting around 20,000 bees, and with the collecting season over all of the nectar the are collecting now is to make honey that will get the colony through the winter.
All kitted up and ready to go!
The bees are fascinating to learn about, and I think both of us are seriously considering having a hive of our own when we eventually find the right space.
After the bee experience was complete I led Vicky to believe that we were off somewhere for dinner. Arriving at a small farm in the middle of Dartmoor around an hour later, I revealed that we were in fact camping and that we would be cooking our own dinner.
For all of those ladies out there thinking how disappointing this may sound, I will just add that Vicky really enjoys camping and seemed genuinely more excited by this than the thought of going to a fancy restaurant!
The camp site was perfect and we spent the evening enjoying the peace and quiet of the moors, with just the sound of the river behind us running by. Thankfully the weather continued to hold and we were even warm during the night. Memories of a few very cold nights camping across Europe and Australia came flooding back to us, making us all the more appreciative of the good weather!
Tent up, BBQ on and a cold cider to hand. A great way to spend the evening!
This morning we continued our journey across the moors taking in the wonderful scenery. We stopped at a little cafe for a late breakfast / early lunch, before spending some time basking in the sun on a rock in the middle of the nearby river.
A hop, a skip and a jump got us to our own personal island. A little smaller than Flat Holm was I must say!
Back at home the weather was still so good that we decided to hit the beach. A bottle of wine went down all too quickly, while we lazed in the sun enjoying a good book. Top weekend!
So as per normal I have been scanning the news for a story that makes me smile or laugh, in my quest that news doesn't all have to be bad (even if most of it seems that way sometimes).
This week's story comes from very close to home in Kent. Take a bucket and spade down to Folkestone and you never know what you might find!
See you next time :)
