Ann Cooper has kindly donated our first viewing bench in memory of her late husband Bob. He enjoyed nature and the great outdoors so ‘‘tis is a good spot for him to be remembered.

Many thanks to AkzoNobel for donating enough paint to do both the classroom but also Vera’s Shed.

I predict a painting party in the not too distant future!

A very productive 2days with a group of 12 from the Princes Trust. A very enthusiastic group of youngsters gave me great help this week. They finished the gravel pit at the front of the classroom:-

Another group worked on the pallet boardwalk over a particularly boggy bit:-

We also added an emergency exit ramp and path at the rear door of the classroom:-

So even though the weather wasn’t kind and we got very wet on day 2 I was impressed that the group were still enthusiastic and stuck at it and did a great job. A fab group welcome back anytime.

Eventually we had some decent weather to enable John and myself to finish the roof on Vera’s Shed. Now we should have a cosy weatherproof hide.

I’ve tried to tidy up the front of the classroom, it also gives a solid base to stand on when putting on or taking off the window shutters.

Vera’s bottom has now been covered with a skirt and chipping, looks quite tidy now, if I say so myself😜

Maybe a little OTT but I decided to upgrade my outdoor conference furniture with a camo makeover 👨🏼‍🎨

Only three more to do now.

Many, many thanks to the workforce of IMMI who kindly donated there time as part of their community program to come and work on the reserve. A group of 10 did some fine work painting the portacabin and putting clippings down. They all worked hard and made a great contribution, they even provided fish and chips, what stars.

Many thanks to Norman and crew (Morpeth Window Company) who are currently doing the refitting of the old Appleby bookshop. They allowed us in to take a load of stuff from the old shop. Tons of shelving, carpet, fire extinguishers, mirrors, and more.

The aftermath after I had scavenged the carpet tiles in Appleby.

Some of the booty collected from Applebys.

Quite happy with my conversion of works sign to owl box, came out OK. Now I have to work out how to get it up onto the portacabin roof as it weighs a ton!