Thursday 5/11/26 On our way to the mill we saw a Kestrel fly into a tree, there were several flying around over the fields today, they are probably the ones that nested in the owl box across the river back in June.
It was fairly cold today so Eddie lit the woodburner in the railway wagon and I brought more logs in. We had cuttings and rotten wood to burn outside, so we had a fire in the incinerator, which was appropriate as it was the 5th of November, bonfire night.
There were three large bags of building lime in the shed for brickwork repairs, but they had all split and lime was coming out over the shed floor, so Eddie brought the Gator over and we loaded the bags in the back, I swept the floor and shovelled the loose lime into a sack, ready for it all to be taken to The Maltings.
This cleared a large space under the workbench in the shed, so we re-arranged things to make the bird food and workmate benches more accessible. I put the harrow and wheelbarrows back so they are easier to get out.
We needed more suet balls for the birds, so I brought two tubs today, we emptied them into our container and filled all the feeders. A blue tit was eating peanuts later and a swan was in the river most of the day. Cosmos are still flowering in the garden.
Our next open days will be in be September 2027, so I made a laminated re-usable sign for our notice board on the Nar Valley Way so walkers can see when the open days will be. The dates will be added nearer the time, when known.
We crossed our bridge with the sign and stapler, I started putting up the new sign but the stapler ran out, so we had to go back to refill it. We also brought loppers to cut a tree and brambles near the bridge, cards to refill the box, a cloth to dry the inside of the card box and a screwdriver to remove old staples, Eddie removed 59 of them from the notice board and gate frame. The swan was still in the river beside us.
We burnt the cuttings and brambles in the incinerator, then came back and took the bags of lime to The Maltings. I cut Beryl’s lawns again, it was getting dark by the time I finished, I needed the headlights on the mower to cut a dark area under some trees.
Thursday 12/11/26 We refitted the driver’s door to the Gator as it was removed in summer to make it cooler. We also had the heater on going to the mill. A heron flew up from the fishing lake, and there was a swan and cygnet in the river on the way. We lit the fire and had a cup of tea in the railway wagon before starting work.
There was a patch of nettles and long grass near our outdoor display which Eddie strimmed while I started tidying the shed, I put most of the things on the floor under the bench as there is more room now the bags of lime have gone. Eddie cleared and swept the workbench then hung up spare bird feeders and tools.
We now know that Kings Lynn open day is on 12/9/27, we always hold our open days on a different weekend as we can’t compete with them and it allows our visitors and volunteers to visit Kings Lynn's open day, so our open days will be 18 & 19 September.
We crossed our bridge to add dates to the sign and repair the bench seat on the footpath. We only needed to take a few things across, but I put them in an old trailer to try it out as a hand cart. I made it a few years ago for my mower but don’t use it any more, so we’ll use it to take tools and wood across the bridge for repairing the bench and bringing back logs, as our bridge is too narrow to get full wheelbarrows across.
We took screws and screwdrivers to refix the bench seat slats to the metal strip underneath, which was easier than we expected. Someone had left something on the table beside the bench seat, if its yours, contact us through the website and describe it and we’ll arrange to return it. We took a marker pen to add the dates of the open days to the sign, we also took Sellotape to cover the writing to stop it washing off.
The handcart worked well but needed a handle for pulling it along, so we went back and Eddie found a round piece of wood in our timber store, which we screwed to the metal bar. Eddie tested the cart and it works well, so we'll use it in future.
I checked the water butt after we straightened it last week, its now half full and still sitting level. After hot sausage rolls for lunch, we loaded the small picnic bench near the wagon into the Gator and took it to the meadow and brought back the large bench which will get more use near the wagon, as the meadow will just be a grass meadow.
We filled the bird feeders and topped up their water bowl. Just before we came back we saw a red kite flying over us and on our way back we saw a great white egret flying over the field at The Maltings.
Graham Bartlett
Interactive Plan Activity Previous Projects Workers 5 Years Ago
