Fine Dining at Chez Rosemary
Yes folks - this Tuesday was that wonderful day of the year when the trials of bashing bracken were eased by the prospect of yet another delicious meal à la Rosemary Helme, the owner of Old Spring Wood. It's no wonder that, in spite of the foul weather forecast and it being the time of the year when people are off on holiday, there was a good turn out!
But - before anything like 'carrots three ways served on a bed of deconstructed sea kale with a samphire jus' could be eaten - we first had to do some work.
Bashers. Are you ready? Present sticks!
The bracken fields lay ahead of us, soaking wet from the rain.
And they're off. A line of bashing began, working our
way into the wood from the far boundary wall.
but good quality bashing continued.
and bashed to the centre of the ring.
As the bashers passed by, new landscape features appeared.
By this point everyone was feeling rather damp behind the ears.
Tom felt the urge to break into a verse of 'Singing in the rain'.
After all - we don't want to bash the ferns down do we?
Finally the lunchtime siren went off and we could all troop back to Rosemary's conservatory for our tasty grub. Hurray!
following the smell of cooking up the hill.
The noise of the rain on the roof did not bode well for the afternoon - nor did the met office forecast - so it was decided to call it a day after dessert was served.
Some additional news.....
As the blog has noted before, the NCVs don't just work on a Tuesday. Quite often individuals do other volunteering within the NAONB and last week this is just what happened. Two carried out a hay meadow survey on Friday and, last Thursday, three spent a long day toiling in the hot sun. They were taking part in the archaeological dig at Studfold farm, helping to uncover the possible remains of an iron age round house. Although there were no definite conclusions made by the end of the five day dig it was interesting to be involved (if only for a short time.)
Julia, Dave and Ros E. tried to avoid contracting housemaid's knee
and archaeologist's elbow throughout their day of digging.
Dave was in two minds about sampling one of the many available worms
when midday came and went without any call for a lunch break.
By close of play on day 4 the only really exciting finds were
a 2" square of iron age pottery and this beauty - a nugget of iron age slag.
More importantly it was NCV Ros E*. who unearthed
this little treasure (which made up for the sore knees!)
*.Henceforth to be known as 'the Slag Lady of Studfold'.
Ros E.
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