Well, this was rather a mixed day. Five of us gathered at Newt Hollow,
ready to do battle with the nettles. Not really enough people given that the
weather this year has been particularly good for nettles and even the areas
which were once grass are now nettle covered. And given the fact that the
task leader had just had a minor operation on her finger and couldn’t drive
or do much more than some gentle raking up of cut nettles. Anyway, we did
our best with scythe and shears and cleared a reasonable area but it looks
as if we might have to take more drastic action to remove the nettles if we
are ever to have time to do some woodland management etc at this site.
Something to discuss with Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, who oversee this
reserve. However, the pond, though overgrown, looked rather lovely, with
plenty of wildflowers around it.
At lunchtime we transferred to our allotment, with two people departing
but two others joining us. Our delight at the surprisingly fine weather
turned to concern as the sky darkened with huge black clouds gathering
overhead. We started to remove some things from the tool shed, ready for
maintenance work and to try to find out the source of the water which had
gathered in a puddle on the shed floor. We didn’t have to wait long to find
out. The heavens opened, and rain poured down. We took shelter in the tool
shed and were soon able to watch the water dripping in a continuous stream
through a gap at the bottom of the window. We had joked at our last meeting
about shutting someone in the shed while we poured water – in the event,
that is pretty well what happened and it worked! So the tools are still in
need of cleaning and maintenance – that will have to be another day.
And the BBQ? We headed for Julian’s and put the food under the grill. Perfect.
Jude