Thursday 14/5/26  Beryl’s bird table fell over and broke, so we removed the top section and took it to the mill for repair, on our way we saw two families of geese and goslings on the fishing lake.

It was a cold rainy start to the day so we had tea in the wagon and watched the great tit feeding her chicks on the nest camera screen while I filled coconut shells with a soft suet block which Beryl gave us, then I went outside and hung them on the bird feeding station. Outside the wagon was a painted lady butterfly on the grass.

The main jobs today were clearing up after the open days so we walked around to see what needed doing. Lupins are in flower in the gardens, pink ones were planted by Emma in 2024, blue ones were given to us by Dennis in 2022. The coasters in the gear wheel table had been left outside so I took them to the wagon to dry out. 

We rolled up the hose used to turn the water wheel, we had to ensure water was not trapped as it would freeze and damage the hose, we put it in the tunnel to protect it.

The top of Beryl’s bird table was repaired by adding extra screws and while we had the screws out we topped up the pack from our supplies and the boxes Fred gave us.

The gazebo was used at the open days, so we put it away in its bag. We took all the feature signs outside, the elevator sign came off the board and blew into the river at the weekend, so today I stapled all the signs to the boards in case the rest were loose. Howard’s table was put outside at the open days to give more room, we put it back indoors against the wall and stacked the feature signs under it.

The outside chairs were put in the visitor centre after the open days, so we took them back to the compound and covered them with black material. I put the gazebo, parasol and camping table back in the loft. The visitor centre is now clear and tidy.

We decided to scrap the very old broken bird table as it was beyond repair and we have a newer one, so Eddie brought it over to the incinerator and took it apart and burned it, we also burned one of the old bridge boards as it had split apart. Eddie logged up the bird table pole for firewood.

We had lunch outside as the sun came out. Kestrels are definitely using the owl nest box opposite the mill, I got a photo of one leaving the box. Lapwings were calling and flying over the field again. Debra and Hector joined us at lunch time, Hector found a large log to play with which he took back with him. While we were sitting at the table a kingfisher flew through the mill, we saw a metallic flash of blue fly past.

In the afternoon I padlocked the water wheel to the bolt in the wall to stop it turning while Eddie emptied the water butt we use for watering the gardens into the other one, as the water butt was leaning over. I got some wood to wedge under the stand which levelled the butt. We then watered the gardens as they looked dry despite today’s rain.

We went back to The Maltings with Beryl’s bird table top and refitted it to the stand and fixed it to the railings with a cable tie to stop it falling over again.

Graham Bartlett  

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