10 weeks in and counting: 31-05-2020

And still it goes on....

Well - I hope you are all staying alert. It's been so long since lockdown began your lertness may well be starting to wane, although things are now starting to ease a little. Let's see if we can perk up your lertness with a peep at what's been going on in the NCVs' worlds in the last few weeks.....

First up are some environmental improvements:

Ros K. has started pulling up Balsam when out on some of her daily walks.

She managed to pick this much in just 5 mins!

Perhaps she needs to volunteer for the 'Pick for Britain' programme 

to keep the country in veg?

Whilst mowing the scouts' playing field at Bramhope, Anita was pleased to see 

that the field margins were almost Balsam free this year. First time for a long time.

Her hard work over the last few years has finally paid off!

Whilst out for a walk in Old Spring Wood Ros E. spotted a number 

of empty tree guards hiding in the undergrowth.

Needless to say - they are now stacked up nice and tidy.

 

Whilst around the back of the NCVs' barn Liz noticed 

a large patch of nettles in need of attention. 

The nettles are now gone.....

...but so. too, has the 'Green Room'!!!

The barn will be loo-less for ever more.

Some NCVs have sent some great pictures of wildlife to share:

Jan didn't have to go far to snap this little bee.

A number of them kept flying into his study and 

he kept having to help them outside again.

Perhaps he should have just told them to 'Buzz off'?

Jan also managed to get close up to this stand off.

Apparently both animals behaved themselves very nicely

and maintained the 2m rule.

Unlike these two birds that were caught on camera by one of Tony's friends.

The caption read:

"What don't you understand about 2m you Tit?"

Andy has a special 'trap' camera set up outside and

 got some shots of the wildlife visiting in the evening.

Foxy Loxy showed up better at night time!

Andy also used his ordinary camera to catch 

Ducky Lucky with her babies...

...and this handsome Kestrel.

Not all the wildlife stories are happy ones. Osian sent in a picture of 

an abandoned Robin's nest in his neighbour's garden. (Can you spot it?)

We're not sure why the nest was abandoned - perhaps the parents were predated or frightened away - or maybe couldn't remember where the nest was, having hidden it so well?

You have probably noticed that there have been plenty of

 lambs around over the last couple of months.

Andrew spotted this one who had obviously decided to devise his own face mask.

(Apparently all he needed to do to get free was lower his head 

but needed Andrew to sort him out.)

And talking of face masks.....

Ros E. followed some YouTube instructions for a 'no sew' mask.

However - as it made her look like the invisible man she decided to buy one online.

At least it allowed her to see where she was going, unlike Anita's.

With some suitable adjustments Anita managed to use hers to protect herself from the foul smelling liquid that emanated when decanting her home made Comfrey fertiliser.

Her veg are coming on a treat under the watchful eye of Worzel Gummidge

- probably due to the Comfrey juice.

Perhaps he needs a mask too Anita?

Ros K's funky veg are also coming on thick and fast.

However - they still haven't quite got the 2m rule right, and all those 

inside that fish tank should NOT be visiting each other indoors!

Not to be outdone, Liz veggies are all starting to be planted out 

and she has rigged up an excellent frame for her beans.

Glad to see that H&S is being observed with the rake Liz!

There was good news from Roy Burrows - gamekeeper up at the Summerstones Estate at the top of Nidderdale - just recently. Apparently there’s a Barn owl nesting in one of the boxes we made for him, and nesting birds in some of the other 30 boxes we made for the estate, working in the AONB barn. They have put in nine ponds, thousands of trees and have recorded 81 different bird species. He knows where Kestrel, Buzzard and Tawny owls are also nesting on the estate.

It is heartening to know that Summerstones are doing so much to help the environment. Well done Roy!!

And finally - Tony has sent this link to a Youube video that you may like to watch about a man who has been sharing his window box with a family of owls..... Enjoy!

Latest Lockdown Briefing: 03-05-2020

Life goes on under lockdown....

Rainbow painted by Liz's two children - 

honorary NCVs Emily and Harry.

The NCVs may well be at the end of their 6th week of lockdown (8 since their last task day) but that doesn't mean they have not been doing useful tasks as far as improving the environment goes. I thought that ardent followers of this blog may well be missing its weekly entry, so decided to gather together some pictorial evidence for you to peruse between your daily walks, keep fit exercises, household duties etc. 

Now - what's been going on around and about? .........

 Anita has been busy growing tomatoes and doing yet more pruning of her shrubs.

That's an awful lot of tomatoes Anita!

Her neighbour's little boy commented that Anita's hedge 

looked like a green train engine. The following morning some wheels, 

windows and a funnel had magically appeared.

The little railway worker at the front is on guard duty.....

...making sure that the robin and her chick that have 

nested in the funnel are protected. 

Ros K. was given some 'funky veg' seeds by a neighbour. Now she has a range

 of colourful veg seedlings growing in her home-made greenhouses.

They soon germinated and include: 'Purple Haze' Carrots,Yellow Courgettes,
'Striped Tigerella' Tomatoes, Red&Purple Brussels Sprouts 
and 'Bright lights' Chard.

🌈Soon she will be eating a rainbow!

Talking of veg growing....

Ruth, too, is busy in the horticultural department.
Her greenhouse is just slightly bigger than Ros's.
I wonder if her veg. will be as colourful?

You may remember that Andrew had pond problems last time with some pesky ducks eating his tadpoles and generally making a mess. 

Ruth has a different problem.....

She has plenty of tadpoles - but lots of duckweed too. 
This can't be removed until the tadpoles grow into frogs. 😞
However - it's nice to see the honeysuckle, birch, flag iris 
and wild garlic at the end of the pond.

Although duckweed is invasive it doesn't get an NCV as steamed up as Himalyan Balsam. Unfortunately this is now germinating in lots of places. Ruth, Anita, Ros K., Ros E and Tony have all seen it. Once it gets a bit bigger than it is at the moment then they will probably spend some of their daily walks pulling it up!

How can something so tiny lead to such a mega sized problem?

(At bit like Covid 19!)

Liz is still working and has spent a good deal of time 

at the barn doing some tool cleaning and oiling.

Son Harry has been helping her construct a platform for the water bowser

that holds the NCVs' bio-security water supply. He did a great job as you can see.

Thanks Harry!

Liz has also been doing some hedge planting in her own garden.

The two 'new' trees are bay trees, re-sited from elsewhere.

If they survive the transplant then she will be able to go into business - 

'The Bay Leaf trading company' .

Looking at the size of them they should provide a sizeable income for the next 10 years.

Mind you - digging them up wasn't easy - as Harry and Emily discovered.

Emily? Wherefore art though?

Ros E. has had to bite the bullet and remove some of the 

climbing hydrangea from her front fence in preparation 
for its replacement. It was only held up by the vegetation. 

Let's hope that it starts to sprout again soon! 😟

And talking of fence replacement - if you remember - last time Tony was having to move a log pile to make way for his boundary fence to be renewed......

The job has now been completed and a new bridge over the stream constructed.

Very swish!

And all those tree tubes he had to check and de-weed?

Well - out of the 650 we planted only 25 have failed to survive the winter.

Obviously some very good planting was done by the NCVs!

 Paul has been back into Hackfall Wood on his daily walk 

and done a few bits and pieces.

He has widened that section of path near the fallen tree root ....

... and up by Mowbray Castle he has constructed an 

excellent hurdle to prevent visitors going where they shouldn't.

Not owning a billhook, in true NCV style, he improvised 

by using an old crepe palette knife.

Well done Paul!

Julia and Dave have been working hard on their veg patch

 which would easily rival any at an RHS show garden.

They, too, have used their NCV ingenuity and produced a home made 

table tennis table using a black and decker workmate, an old table top, 

some clamps and a tape measure. (Apparently the patent's pending!)

Wimbledon can now go ahead - obviously behind closed doors.

Graham undertook a very important job -

the conservation and restoration of Graham!

I think that he had probably put in a hard day's work on his allotment first.

(But I could be wrong.)

A couple of NCVs have been practising their landscape photography on the wonderful bluebell displays that are blooming at the moment:

 Paul took this in Hackfall Wood ....

...and Jan photographed his near Ripley Castle.

He said that the hum of the insects and the lovely fragrance made the sight all the better.

Jan was also quick enough to catch this amazing sight through his patio window - 

a sparrowhawk catching a blackbird.

Nature in the raw!

A challenge set and exceeded:

You will have probably heard of the 2.6 challenge that was put together by organisers of mass sporting events, including the cancelled London Marathon. Its aim was to raise money for charities that are struggling during the pandemic. Well - our own Liz and her daughter Emily decided to run a mini-marathon in the garden on 26th April. They wanted to raise £100 for the hospice that took such good care of Liz's mum. So far they have managed to get over £740!! A great result - but if you would like to help them take that total even higher then click HERE for the fund raising link. 

And finally:

Our very own NCV musician, Tom, has sent me this link to a song he wrote, in 2016, to accompany a J. Scott Skinner tune. It is entitled 'Separate Ways' and he felt it was appropriate for the strange times we are living in. The beautiful photo of the rainbow that accompanies the link was taken up on Nought Moor, above Pateley Bridge, where the NCVs laid a lot of paving stones to improve the footpath around that time. Warning - keep a box of tissues to hand when you listen. 

It is a lovely song Tom. Thank you for sharing it with us.