You're joking!
I say, I say, I say.
What kind of pony can you ride on all day without going anywhere?
Answer? A peening pony!
As the month of June rolled over into July the NCVs celebrated International Joke day (yes - there really is an international joke day on the 1st of July each year) either by sitting on a peening pony, or running around doing a variety of tasks. As a result, there was little time for joking. Everyone was just too busy.
So - first of all - those ponies....
Meet Trigger - the peening pony. A headless
species that only has three legs and no tail.
Ride 'em cowboy.
Yee Hah!!
Trigger had been bought at the local
equestrian mart. Four more ponies were
required so the NCVs made them,
using Trigger as a template.
Once the herd was ready for use
the tool sharpeners climbed onto their
mounts and got to work.
Grassland officer Joe
gave them a training session on
how to 'peen' the scythe blades.
(i.e. remove the nicks in the cutting edge.)
At the end of the session the new ponies were
led into the stable for a rest.
Whilst all this was going on the rest of the team
carried out job number one, which involved
tree tube tidying.
Then it was on to Millenium Green and job
number 2 - dealing with a fallen tree branch
which had squashed the caterpillar tunnel.
Branches were lopped and sawn.
(Note the new 'bump caps' being modelled
by Tom and Ken. These stylish, lightweight
hard hats are great for keeping noddles safe.)
The branches were then collected up...
...and brash piled.
Once the tree was removed,
the caterpillar tunnel miraculously
bounced back up, though not quite to its former glory.
However, with a bit of renovation
involving willow wands from another
structure...
...it looked as good as new.
Time for a coffee break...
...then it was on to job number 3;
clearing the bridleway at Glasshouses verge.
Osian and Liz got busy on job number 4,
which meant them having to power up
the strimmers to cut some grass.
They were focusing just on the area of verge
near the picnic benches, where
the yellow rattle seeds planted last year
have failed to grow.
In most other parts of the verge
the rattle has proliferated
and suppressed the grass.
In these areas there are large
quantities of various wild flowers,
including an extensive patch
of common spotted orchids.
Cut grass was raked...
...and transported to a compost pile.
By two o'clock everyone was plum tuckered out and needed to call time. Not a single joke had been told but everyone had enjoyed the day never-the-less.
Special note -
Thanks must go to Amy who has made a whole pile of safety goggles bags out of old pillow cases. These will prevent the new glasses from getting scratched.
