Today 10 NCVs turned out to do their best with two different jobs. During the morning there was a bird box making event for the public in the NCVs' barn, using the kits that Jan and his assistants prepared last week. Two of the volunteers, and Paul, remained there to supervise the activity while the rest of the group set off to make a start on the last leg of the Sparrowhawk fencing task.
The bird box event was well attended with four adults and six children calling in to learn the skill of bird box making. They were all very adept at using tools, even the two youngest - a pair of twins aged 5 (sorry - very nearly 6!!) I worked with these two and we got ourselves down near the wood burner so we were nice and cosy as we worked. Within two hours they had completed two boxes and were awarded certificates for their efforts.
After a hard morning's work the twins proudly show off their
'Certificates of Achievement - Bird Box Construction Level 1'
Other bird box makers were also hard at work.
After lunch by the stove three of us went up to Sparrowhawk to help out with the fence.
Now - followers of this blog will know that fencing at Sparrowhawk has featured a number of times over the last year. Indeed, the final stretch has been done twice! Last time we left it it looked like this, with a number of uprights still to dig in and three rails to attach:
Previously, on Sparrowhawk farm....
However, upon arrival at the field we were surprised and delighted to find that the others had really got a crack on and almost finished the job before they broke for lunch. (Phew - no hard digging of fence posts for me today!!) One thing we did notice when we arrived was the use of some 'bridging' timbers. We were assured that these were used to save having to waste wood. I have my doubts as photographic evidence seems to indicate that they were far from planned.
Oops. How did we manage that?
Over a lunchtime tangerine Ros K and
Terry devise the 'saving wood' cover story.
Lunch over we all got busy and laid the job to rest once and for all.
Just how many men does it take to knock in a nail?
Graham has a cunning plan to make a perfect join -
let's hope he stops before he reaches Ros K's body!
Close up of the cunning plan to deal with the change in angle in the lie of the land.
Note how the plan is better executed as Graham works from the bottom rail upwards!
Dean chooses the difficult and demanding task of nail provider....
...... during the morning .......
...and later in the afternoon!
Terry took on the task of sawing off the tall bits of fence. Unfortunately the bow saw was not very sharp so he called for the new, yellow handled saw that was much coveted. A cry of 'The yellow saw of Texas is the only saw for me....' went up and the sharper tool was passed over.
Ros E demonstrates her angle cutting skills -
not easy when you have to squeeze between
the end of the fence and the nearby tree.
Finally a piece of pig wire netting was used to bridge the gap between the end of the fence and the nearby gate post. Rails could not be used as the post was at a difficult angle in relation to the fence.
Now - guess who is putting the last staple in?
At long last - the job's a wrap.
Don't lean too hard on that fence,
just in case, especially near those bridging timbers!
Ros E.
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