Week Ending 27th October 2013 - Catch up!

Hi Everybody,

Apologies again for the lack of a blog last week. As per usual things have been pretty busy and I just didn't get round to writing anything!

The one word I would use to describe the last 2 weeks is... wet! I can't think of a day that it hasn't rained hard at one point or another. 

Contributing to the lack of blogging last week was the fact that both Vicky and I had come down with very bad colds, and most nights after work we were fit for little else than watching wildlife documentaries under a rug with a mug of hot chocolate. No real time for studying or writing blogs.

On the days that we were feeling well enough to work a combination of large school groups and preparing for our "Spooktacular Halloween Trail" left us feeling more that a little jaded come clocking off time! 

Before we succumbed to our illnesses however, we did get the opportunity to have an afternoon out "on the moors" as we went up to Hey Tor in the Dartmoor National Park. In a slight gap between the rain we managed to scale our way to the top and look out all the way across the countryside to the coast.

Feeding some of the famous Dartmoor ponies

Feeling a little better this week we've been trying to play catch up with all the things that didn't get done last week. Extra studying has been on the menu in the evenings to make sure that we continue our progress in that regard!

The largest group of the week came in the form of 90 reception class children who came to do a range of activities over the course of the day. We did bread making (or in this case it was more like bread shaping), gardening (including planting and weeding) as well as fun tasks on the woodland nature trail that taught the children about trees, birds and insects.

We're now nearly ready for our Halloween trail to start, and I'm looking forward to having 3 days dressed as a skeleton trying to scare all of the kids. 

Friday brought a hastily arranged visit to London with the sad news that a good friend of ours is very seriously ill. It was also one of those days where if something could go wrong it would go wrong! We set off very early from home as our bus would be leaving Exeter at 6.15am. In the rainy darkness of the early hours we ended up taking a wrong turn. Normally this would be no big deal, but it becomes one when the road you have taken is a dual carriageway with no places to turn back in the other direction for nearly 20 minutes! 

We got to Exeter and found ourselves with only 20 minutes to complete the 30 minute walk from where we had parked to where the bus was leaving from. Expecting it to be a cold day we had a number of layers on, as well as backpacks carrying our supplies for the day. This made the run across the city even less pleasurable than it would have been anyway. The bus was just pulling away as we came around the final corner. One last all out sprint and some frantic arm waving caught the driver's attention, and he stopped to let us on (it must have been through pity as by this stage I probably looked like a sleep deprived homeless man drenched in his own sweat). I felt even sorrier for the lady who I sat next to for most of the 4 hour journey, as the sweat ran down my forehead, off my nose and tapped repeatedly against the material of my waterproof jacket! 

Slightly more relaxed we arrived in London, and promptly caught the underground in the wrong direction in regard to our destination! We decided to take a break, and enjoyed a couple of incident free hours as we sat in St James' Park trying to identify all of the birds that we could see while we ate some lunch. We were even in prime position to see the changing of the guard which was an extra bonus!

Changing of the guard

The day's normal service was then resumed however, as upon exiting the tube station near the hospice we turned left instead of right, and needed the google maps app on my phone to get us back on track.

That evening we were able to arrange a last minute dinner with Danii, another of our friends who lives in London, and it was great to have a good catch up and a chat.

The long bus journey back saw us arrive at the car just before midnight, or when it comes to bad luck I should say just in time for one last kick in the teeth. For while it was dark, it was not too dark to notice the little yellow ticket sitting on my windscreen courtesy of the local traffic warden. In our haste and the darkness of the morning we had obviously not read the road signs close enough, and parked in the wrong place. It is between us the first parking ticket we have had in our collective 18 years of driving! I was so tired I don't think I even swore. All I remember is giving a wry smile and just reminding myself that tomorrow would be another day!

As I'm "working" in the visitor centre while I write this, the week effectively finished for us yesterday. We had agreed to volunteer for an "extreme beach clean" with the Trust, which involved kayaking and coasteering to collect litter from areas of the shoreline that are inaccessible by foot. Considering the time of year and the temperature I made the brave decision to stay on dry land and classify all of the rubbish that was brought back, while I let Vicky do what she does best and jump in the sea! 

Extreme Beach Clean at Anstey's Cove

This weeks news story comes from Orkney, and as a wildilfe cameraman you wouldn't expect what you were trying to film quite this close....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-24637627

See you next time!

Week Ending 13th October 2013

By comparison it’s been a reasonably quiet week down here on the farm. With no children’s groups booked in all week it was a chance to catch up on all of the little jobs that need doing around the farm.

Probably the most difficult job of the week was vaccinating the alpacas and trimming their hoofs. We worked with one of the full time farmers (as she knew what she was doing!) to get them into the shelter where it is a little to work with them, and she was able to give them their jabs while we restrained them.

"Captain Kid"

"Chieftain"

After a number of monotonous hours following some online 

training, I finally passed my food hygiene certificate meaning that in theory I can work in a kitchen without harming people....in theory!

Before the cold weather set in later in the week, we were able to get out and enjoy a few sunny days before they disappear altogether. One afternoon we even went down to the beach and enjoyed walking along the sands and clambering over the rockpools.

Making the most of the warm weather

The rest of the week has mainly been spent planning and preparing for the “Spooktacular Halloween Trail” that we will be hosting at the farm for a few days at the end of October. It basically involves taking our nature trail at the farm and converting it to host a series of spooky challenges for children to complete, and once they are finished they get to claim a prize of a bag of sweets. Hopefully while they are here they might even learn a bit about nature, but then again I might be expecting a little too much!

This weeks amusing story comes from the Vatican, and goes to prove that old school days saying: "Always double check your work before you hand it in"....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24489512

See you next time!

Week Ending 6th October 2013

It’s the end of another week here at Occombe, and a busy one it’s been!

The week has brought several more children’s groups our way, with activities ranging from rock pooling to pizza parties and starting fires in the woods. On top of all of that there was our wedding anniversary too!

The first school group of the week came down for a full day of activities in the forest just down the road from the farm. We had 2 main activities organised; Den Building and Fire Craft. The weather didn’t play ball either, and while the children were repeatedly able to get their fires started (all in a responsible manner I hasten to add) the torrential rain soon put pay to them! In reality the den building groups had things a little easier as they were building shelters to get out of the rain!

For obvious reasons I am not allowed to put pictures of the children online without consent. So here's a cow instead.

The next day brought us 12 children for a rock pooling group over near Berry Head, another of the trust’s sites. The children were all very enthusiastic about looking through the pools to find some wildlife, but were a little less keen to use the identification charts that we had given them, instead coming up with their own names such as “The Werewolf Crab”. I get the feeling many of the subtle species got overlooked in favour of anything that had pincers.

We also this week hosted a Birthday party for a group of children. Pizza making was on the agenda, but this time with far less of an educational theme compared to when we do it with schools. The children had a great time, and while we were waiting for their dough to rise we got them to make some animals out of biodegradable clay and hide them around the farm’s garden.

This time I'll show you a Great Tit

As well as all of our work at the farm, we are both still very busy studying for our diploma (mainly the reason why the blog is late again this week!) and on some days have been burning the candle at both ends so to speak.

Finally among all of that it was our second wedding anniversary on Thursday. I can’t quite believe 2 years has flown by since we got married, but we have certainly achieved a lot during that time. We spent the day by going to a local hotel to use their swimming and steam room facilities before going for a walk (during the only dry spell of the day) across the cliffs at Berry Head. We finished the night by going to one of the local pubs for a spot of food and drink, which went down very nicely indeed!

At last a picture that relates to the text! Out for an afternoon stroll along the coast at Berry Head.

For this weeks news story we head down to London to check out the latest addition to the many football stadiums already sited there...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24423342

See you all next week!

Week Ending 29th September 2013

Our first full week of working at the farm is now done and dusted. Although our duties are still only few and far between by comparison it has been nice to start learning some of the ropes that we hadn’t covered in our first few days.

We’ve had our first experiences of assisting with some of the children’s groups that come to the farm and all in all things went pretty well. The first group we had were of play school age and had come to the farm for a bread making morning. To be honest the adults did most of the work, but the children looked like they were enjoying themselves anyway! The session finished with flour everywhere!

While we were waiting for the dough to rise we took the children out onto the farm to see some of the animals. The children all seemed to be captivated looking at the animals, but they weren’t really of an age where we could teach them anything other than the animal’s names.

"King Julian" the goat emerging from the bushes

Our second group of kids were slightly older (around 6 years old), and they came to the farm to do some pizza making. There was a little more focus on the farm and the ingredients that went into the food, and the children were all very well behaved (thank goodness!). This time while we were waiting for the dough to rise we took the children out into the garden and got them to help with some weeding around the bottom of the raised beds. The kids really enjoyed helping us out, and to top it all off they were able to feed all of their weeds to the pigs!

We’re now starting to get to know the personalities of the animals a little bit, as well as getting used to the daily routines that surround them all. I’m sure in the coming weeks it will become second nature to us.

The living area of the caravan. Pretty spacious and starting to feel like home

There are of course some perks to having all of these animals around, and one of those is a daily supply of fresh eggs for the team. We usually end up with around 20 fresh eggs a day and we are normally falling over ourselves to try and give them away!

Free range eggs galore!

We also had a chance this week to visit the Seashore Centre, which is also run by the Trust and is a few miles down the road on the coast. While we were there we learnt to clean out the tanks for the sea creatures inside including; anemones, starfish and crabs.

We finished the week with a couple of days off, although much of this time was spent studying for our diplomas. We also had time for a short trip into Paignton to find out what was there and for me to get my hair cut. I now look a little less like I still live on an island!

This week’s amusing news story comes from Switzerland. I’m sure we have all from time to time had our frustrations with foxes; maybe they have scattered the contents of your bin bags across your garden or attacked the chickens or ducks that you keep? Well here’s why you might not be a fan of foxes if you are both Swiss and a keen golfer...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24293390

See you next week!

Memories of Flat Holm

Hi guys,

Here is a little photo slideshow of some of our memories of the Island.

Love Vicky x

Create a free photo slideshow

Week Ending 22nd September 2013 - Catch Up Post!

As anticipated I’ve been a little slow in getting the last blog written up, with leaving Flat Holm, travelling back to Kent and then back to Torquay to start our new role all coming in a very short space of time. I have therefore combined the last 2 weeks into one post.

Leaving Flat Holm didn’t quite go the way we expected after the weather had it’s say on the boat schedule. Having been due to leave on the Sunday following a very busy weekend of visitors, we found that the boats for Saturday and Sunday were cancelled due to the bad weather that was forecast. That meant rather hastily packing our bags and getting on the only available boat on the Friday instead! Whether it made leaving any easier I’m not sure but there was less time for sentiment than originally planned.

Waiting for the final boat of our time on Flat Holm

It’s very strange to think that we are not going back to the island, but it will forever stay with us as a place that we once called home. I’m sure we will visit again in the future to see how things have changed.

At the same time as starting our new role down in Torquay, both Vicky and I have enrolled on a Level 2 Diploma in Countryside and the Environment. Most of the course is taught online, although there will be some practical work involved as well that we can complete during our time down south.

Our new role is based at Occombe Farm which is run by the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, and we will be known as Trainee Farm Education Rangers. As the title suggests there is more environmental education involved with this role, although like previously we will have animals to look after and wildlife to observe.

Occombe farm. On the left is the play barn for the children, and on the right is the farm shop and cafe. All the food in both is organic.

Our accommodation on the farm is a static home (like an oversized caravan that doesn’t move) and we will be living here for the 5 months that it takes to complete our placements. We have quite a nice view from the van, and the only thing that lets it down a little is the traffic noise from a nearby road. I guess when you’ve lived on a little island 5 miles from civilisation for the past half a year we’re just not used to hearing it!

Our little "caravan" hidden away among the trees

The view from the window of the van aren't half bad though!

The farm has a number of animals for people to come and visit, as well as 2 nature trails for guests to follow. Our first few days working at the farm have mainly just been covering the basics of the day to day business, and we have started to help with some of the animal care and feeding. We have 2 pigs, 4 ducks (the same breed that we had on Flat Holm), 30 chickens, 2 alpacas, 3 goats and a cow with 2 calves.

A familiar sight from Flat Holm. A Khaki Campbell duck (male in this case)

On our first day off we spent some time exploring the local area to try and work out where all of our closest essentials are. We visited the nearby town of Totnes which is great for quirky little gifts and crafts, but a little too far to shop on a regular basis.

To finish the week we had a visit from our friend Janet who we travelled across the globe with last year. She stopped in on the way back from her holiday in Cornwall and very kindly bought us breakfast in the farm cafe. It was great to see her again and have a catch up on all the things that are new since we last saw each other nearly a year ago.

This weeks good news story comes from the US, where for this homeless man from Boston honesty certainly turned out to be the best policy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24170670

See you all next time!

Week Ending 8th September 2013

It has for once been a fairly quiet week out here on Flat Holm, with only one visitor trip making it's way to the island from Weston-Super-Mare on Saturday.

With our regular warden Matt being off the island for a short break, we have had former Trainee Warden Stewart returning to oversee the weeks work.

The project we started last week to clear the Victorian Water Catchment area was completed during the early part of this week, and the results are very pleasing. At least we still have plenty more weeds in other areas of the island that the insects that were living there can go on to inhabit.

Other work this week included the sanding and painting of the MET Office station fence, as the strong westerly winds that we frequently have on the island had started to take their toll on it. 

I've decided to create a new idiot of the week award which I have proudly presented to myself this week for leaving my mobile phone outside during a rain storm. After over 2 days of trying to dry it out in the sun I am finally going to try and restart it again later this evening, I can only hope that it hasn't reached the end of it's short life!

So we are down to our last week on Flat Holm, as by this time next week we will have left the island for the last time. We're still struggling to come to terms with the fact that we will be leaving the island, but we are finally starting to get all of our stuff organised and packed for next Sunday's departure. The schedule next week is looking very hectic, and with 3 separate groups all visiting on Sunday as well as us leaving I fully expect to be writing the blog a little late!

I will try to add photos to this weeks blog as soon as possible, but many of them are stored on my phone and may or may not be available after it's drying out process!

This week's amusing story is all about espionage, but maybe the spies in the world today aren't who we think they are!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-23962379

See you next week!