"When one tugs at a single thing in nature you find it attached to the
rest of the world". - John Muir (American Naturalist)
Afternoons on the acre
We've seen a number of family and friend groups make use of the"Afternoons on the Acre" and it's been a delight to see the acre being used and enjoyed in a safe way.
Here are a number of the lovely comments we have received from the families. What a joy to be able to share the space again.
'we had a ball!! Great weather, children SO excited and Corin on hand to encourage and guide. A truly wonderful afternoon!'
'Lovely afternoon. They really loved it. Hide and seek, the maze, the wild flowers. Thank you to everyone who enabled our afternoon.'
'We had such an amazing afternoon and are so grateful for that relaxing time. My friend and her children are in our 'bubble' but neither of us have a garden big enough to keep all our children entertained. Yesterday was so nice because we knew we were the only ones there (aside from Corin who was so lovely!) It was so relaxing and my friend and I actually got a chance to chat!'
Other News!
Trevor, our resident wood worker, has almost finished our table using wood from the Cedar of Lebanon tree that was felled in the library gardens. (Read more about when that happened here) We can't wait to see the result! He's been using old traditional methods and even made a "shave horse" so that he can grip pieces of wood in its 'mouth' leaving both his hands free to work the grain.
Our fantastic " Men in Sheds" are making good progress on the pizza oven. The foundation stones have been laid and a frame made up for it to stand on, which will be close to the pond. We hope to have news on the arrival of our pond decking in the next few days too.
Musings from the Acre The harvest season, or Lammas, is upon us and we are not alone in gathering up the wonderful food that grows abundantly on the acre. Most mornings a flock of goldcrest, perhaps a hundred strong, rise from the knapweed and comment noisily from the trees at my unwarranted intrusion during their breakfast. Elsewhere our fallen fruit has hardly touched the ground before a rat scurries off with his sweet prize and all about the acre these acts of harvest are being played out. All manner of nature is feeding at the acre's table. The bees, heavily laden with nectar and dusted with pollen, have been making their golden honey in the hives, soon to be enjoyed by us as well as them. This year our own produce has been enjoyed by a greater number of people than in previous harvests and it has been a joy to observe volunteers growing vegetables for the first time, or children digging up potatoes and getting excited as they fumble in the earth for the 'treasure' or the wonderful silence as a home grown cake or crumble is greedily consumed down to the last crumb.
Nature is feeding more than just our souls.
Enjoy the heat!