Wed 8th July 2020 - Middlebarn Farm, Bathingbourne. GG # 826.

Terry's Photographs and Video.

 Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus)

Bees nest in a living tree trunk.

I wasn't able to get along to this session so...hopefully someone will send in some editorial at a later date..? Watch this space 😃.

Wed 1st July 2020 - GG Virtual Session # 014.

This week's happy band of GG Zoomers....

Because it is proving a little problematical to find "real" GG venues that it would be suitable under the present Covid-19 regulations, once again we find ourselves logged into Zoom on Wednesday morning. Nice to see everyone and have a chat but not quite the same as 3 hours hard graft out in the countryside...! This weekI joined the session a little late to find everyone in deep discussion about various types of Cabbage White butterflies and their associated caterpillars, amazing what gets discussed 😀. Mark had set out an e-mail to some of the members who had either dropped out or moved away to the mainland, inviting them to join us on line. Several had replied but...for various reasons were unable to come online this week - we look forward to "seeing them" sometime in the future. The conversation then moved to what might be considered safe and legal for us to do for future GG sessions...and there might be the chance of us doing some Pesky Plant Pulling sometime soon.... if (and it is a BIG if) it is deemed to be safe for all concerned. As they say...."watch this space"..!!! It was mentioned  that the stream south of the Donkey Sanctuary is pretty clear of HB this year so perhaps all our efforts in the past have been rewarded..?

Terry's Photographs.

"Thought people might like to see a couple of the new information boards that have gone up around Golden Hill Park. There are quite a few and we think they’re very impressive, though there seem to be mixed opinions about them in West Wight! Gift to Nature have also opened up the views towards Totland, Yarmouth and All Saints’ Church."

"I found this on the bottom path to Tennyson Downs Freshwater and thought other GG members might be interested.
It was big - about 6 inches long! I have been told it is a Golden Ringed Dragonfly." 

And...from me.......

A bit short on photographs this week but, if any of you are tempted to try Covid induced DIY haircuts, then be aware of what you might see when you look down..... Arrrgghhh....!!!!! Oh well, never mind...it will (might?) grow back in a few weeks...😧

Many thanks to Terry for his contribution.

Wed 24th June 2020 - GG Virtual Session # 013.

All those taking part in this week's Zoom meeting....

After the excitement of last week's REAL GG session...our Zoom meeting this week seemed a little bit tame 😕 but it was nice to see everyones happy, smiling faces and have a chat about things. Although the Riverside "trial" session was considered to be a resounding success, it highlighted a few issues for working at less suitable sites in the future. One option discussed was to limit the number of people attending a particular session by pre-booking "intention to attend" - this way the number of GGmers could be managed safely. Obviously some venues lend themselves to larger numbers but most of these involve other groups (G2N, H&IOWT etc) who are still in some form of lockdown. Hopefully all this will be resolved when the government's new guidelines are understood and implemented. One group that is looking for volunteers is the Himalayan Balsam Bashing Brigade... if you are interested then please try this link   HB Pulling Link. or contact Viv.

Needless to say, just to rub salt into the wound, while we were all inside Zooming the weather outside was glorious 😡.

A couple of photographs in from our West Wight reporter...Geoff...

 " I snapped the enormous badger sett complex by the main path through Golden Hill. It is reputed to be one of the oldest and largest on the Island. "

I visited Quarr Abbey last weekend...always a lovely walk. There are take away facilities from the cafe and the pigs are now back in their pens...!

This year has been a wonderful one for growing orchids... both cultivated and wild. This one of mine flowers every year but this time around it was exceptional...!

Many thanks to Geoff for his contribution.

Wed 17th June 2020 - The Riverside Centre, Newport. GG # 825.

Prior to our returning to some kind of normality on a Wednesday morning, this was the       e-mail that Mark sent to us all.....

Hi Everyone,

We have decided to trial a Green Gym outdoors ... revolutionary idea I know! So no Zoom GG this week!

So yes, this Wednesday I will be at The Riverside. Their beds and paths I'm sure need a tidy up, you're welcome to join me but no pressure, any doubts please don't come it is quite understandable. But it will give us a chance to see each other ... albeit from 2 meters away. We must keep that distance of course to keep everyone safe. If you wish to wear a facemask then that is up to you. A few things will be different.

• Please bring your own drinks and snacks - for obvious reasons the tea queue and sharing the pots etc would be tricky
• Please bring own tools and gloves - I can bring the GG tools but you may wish to bring your own, and keep to using your own, to save the risk.  We will be weeding, pruning and the usual. 

Some things remain the same

• banter - this is essential 😉
• parking - should be plenty as no public groups are using the centre - But remember you still need tolog your registration number in reception. (They have hand gel and they clean down the touch screen regularly)
• Stay as long as you wish

It is a big site so I hope we can work safely all around the building to keep that 2 meters.

So 10:00 am in the car park. 

If you decide it is too risky, no problem, we'll let you know how it goes. This is not a resumption of sessions purely a trial for this week.

Terry's Photographs. (Please note...due to camera angles, sometimes people may look to be closer than 2 metres. Be assured that everyone was aware of the regulations and was careful to comply at all times.)

"Come on....time to get to work..!"

How to do a team brief under Covid-19 regs.

Finally...we get to do some WORK.

Trying to load a bag and stay 2M apart.

Tea break with (un) social distancing.

Time to tidy up.

Now (and below) ...doesn't this look a whole lot tidier..???

With our last Green Gym session being held on March 11th 2020, it was really good for us all to meet up again and get some practical work done. Mark decided that we would try an experimental session to see if we could work safely and still comply with the Covid-19 regulations....the Riverside Centre was ideal for this purpose. There are plenty of well spaced flower beds for us to work on and... as so often when we get back here... there was PLENTY for us to be getting on with! Everyone provided their own PPE and most bought along tools from home to minimise any cross contamination. Come tea break it was BYO but very pleasant to sit down by the river and catch up with old friends. I think a few went home with sore throats after trying to hold conversations whilst remaining at a safe distance...😄. We had 16 GGmers in attendance and although there was a weather warning out for thunderstorms, it remained dry throughout. Well done to everyone who came along and let's hope that Mark can come up with some similar venues for the coming weeks.

Many thanks to Terry for submitting the photographs this week and to Mark for getting us back into the swing of things...!