A day out?
No! Most definitely not. Any NCVs who thought they were in for a day at the seaside, just because they were setting off from the barn in a mini-bus, were to be sorely disappointed. Instead they would have found themselves up at Low Riggs farm for a day of 'Woodland Management'. Basically this was continuing from where they left off 2 weeks previously when they carried out bracken control, and removed tree tubes as necessary, in a young plantation .
So - did they manage to finish the job? Last time they were struggling with hot conditions. This time it was also uncomfortably warm and muggy.
All aboard who's going aboard!!
There's a long (and VERY bumpy)
drive ahead, so let's get going.
Once seated,
Ken began singing
'Roll out the barrel'.
Yep - the bracken is still here.
Let's hope the trees are too.
The low hanging fruit at
the top of the slope had been
sorted last time.
This week everyone had
to venture further downhill.
As you got lower and lower,
the bracken got higher and higher,
towering over the NCVs.
Any tree tube here?
There certainly is!
Having found a tube you then
needed to check for a tree.
This one was easy to spot
(definitely in the minority).
More often than not they were
just a few inches tall or deceased.
Hurray - Dave has found
a tall, live sapling!!
some indication of the failure
rate of the trees.
(Many of the tubes have
other tubes inside.)
The weather was warm
so Julia whipped out a hanky
and fashioned herself a sunhat.
Liz, meanwhile, tested everyone on their general
knowledge using the quiz question
on the back of her biscuit packet.
"What's the smallest owl
in the world/"
(Answer at the end.)
She then showed how resourceful
she is. Having forgotten her teaspoon
she simply utilised a banana.
By lunchtime the job was complete,
at least as far as we could tell
without bashing the whole hillside.
Time to head back to the bus
for the long and rattley ride home.
Another resourceful NCV (Amy)
managed to make a number of
safety goggles cases out of a tea towel.
Well done that woman!!
The answer to the quiz question?
The Elf Owl of course.
(The size of a sparrow -
found in the USA and Mexico)
Thank you for all your sterling efforts. You deserve a medal 🥇!
ReplyDeletelove the owl joke - a real hoot!
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