August 2023. I have chosen an Elvis song for this post, the reason for which may become apparent. Read on to find out.
It has to be said that a lot of the work we do at the park is repetitive, but very necessarily so. The summer (so far), being warm & wet has been ideal for rapid growth everywhere, which means a lot of mowing, strimming and cutting back to maintain the pathways, trails and verges. I help out one day a week, so you can imagine how much more work is carried out by others in my absence.
Fortunately, the wet weather has meant less need for watering shrubs & trees. So, depending upon conditions, our work is adjusted to suit.
Not surprisingly, I was once again on the ride-on mower. First off was the picnic area to prepare for 'Kids Yoga in the Park'. Then a quick up and down the main path between the car park and Church Street to trim the verges. The grass from the car park to the lodge was particularly lush, so I used the leaf blower to clear the cuttings that had sprayed onto the pathway.
Next up was a bit of crown raising, also near the lodge. We had done a bit recently in preparation for the funfair and circus. This time we used a scaffold tower in order to get the height we needed.
Looking good!
We managed to fill the back of the Kawasaki twice with the lopped branches, which we then transferred to the woodchip bay ready for chipping.
The recent wet weather has also provided us with some striking fungus growing out from a dead/rotting tree in the woods.
Yellow Stagshorn fungus
Unfortunately, some of our repetitive work involves dealing with the consequence of thoughtless individuals (which seems to be more widespread than in my youth). I sometimes see negative posts on the Old Catton Life FB page from disgruntled people who choose to report how the park is not as fine as they remember it. So to those people, why not volunteer and make a difference, because it's not always someone else's job. I did and it's very rewarding.
Anyway, I digress, we finished the day once more clearing the Victorian pond of bottles, cans and litter.
This week saw the return of very warm temperatures. Once again, there was plenty of mowing to do. To avoid the heat of the full sun, we did some work in the west woods, cutting & clearing elm and bramble that was growing around one of the new planted beds. We then moved onto the edge of the woods to do some similar cutting back on other beds until the heat once more took its toll.
One thing I couldn't help but notice, was that a lot more of the meadow grass had been cut. This time it looked like it was waiting to be baled for hay.
Make hay while the sun shines!
There was more mowing for me in the afternoon. I finished around the picnic area, including some trails that had become overgrown, and moved onto one of the main hoggin paths to trim the verges. Amy soldiered on with more clearing around planted beds.
It was then that I noticed the hay bales. Somehow we had missed the farmer.
Fortunately, on my way home, I was lucky enough to spot the farmer who was still in action at the far end of the park near Church Street entrance.
.....and out pops another new hay bale!
Look out for my next post, coming soon!
