Wed 30th June 2021 - Riverside Centre - Newport. GG # 841.

 Terry's Photographs.

Our Wednesday morning session, this week, was good in many ways - it was outdoors in fair weather and at a venue that scores high on the list of favourite GG places to work - the Riverside Centre. Maybe it was the central location that encouraged people along but it was well attended and a few "old faces" joined us for the first time since the Covid restrictions were lifted .....welcome back😄. As can be seen from the photos above, we were working right across the whole site which just happened to help with the social distancing rules! Due to the Centre being used a a vaccination station, we had to work around those coming and leaving but there was more than enough for us to be getting on with around the flower beds, pathways and car parking areas. Considering how few times we have visited here recently, the whole area was looking better for our efforts come the end - well done to everyone who came along.

Many thanks to Terry for running here there and everywhere to get "action shots" of the Team.

Wed 23rd June 2021 - Barncourt Farm, Wroxall. GG # 840.

Phil's Photos.

Mark's Photos.

Bob's Photos

The pre-session briefing.

Plenty of HB to pick from..!

Back breaking work.

The tea break chat.

Working our way down the fence line...

until finally....we get to the far end 👏.

I am not going to jinx things by saying " Goodbye to Zoom and hello real world" but fingers crossed that we might now get back to some kind of "normal" Wednesday morning sessions. This week we were over at Wroxall to tackle that pesky plant called Himalayan Balsam. Regular readers will know that this is a VERY invasive plant that, left to grow freely, will easily clog waterways and river banks. For further details click this link https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=480

The usual parking area was not available for this visit so we had to meet up in the farm yard opposite. A short walk took us to the work area and we could immediately see that it was going to be a busy morning..! Usually we wouldn't pile the pulled plants like this (due to the risk of them re-rooting) but the farmer had agreed to collect everything up after we left today. In all there were around six huge piles along the length of the hedge line so a job well done. The previous few days wet weather had softened the soil somewhat which does help when you are trying to wrestle something about the size of a small tree from the ground. 

There were around 15 of us working today and the weather remained dry, sunny and pleasantly warm.

Mark mentioned that we might be working at the Riverside Centre next Wednesday. Once he has finalised the details there will be an e-mail with all the information.

Many thanks to Phil and Mark for their photographic contribution.

Wed 16th June 2021 - GG Virtual Session # 048.

 Today's motley bunch....😀

Because of circumstance beyond Mark's control, this week's GG session was yet another Zoom one. It is hoped that things might improve soon and for those of you who aren't on the GG round robin e-mail listing, I have pasted his message below....

Next week likely at The Riverside.  This centre is of course one of the mian vaccine hubs on the Island, so our work around the site's gardens there have been viewed probably more times in the last year than over the past decade or so. Certainly the Quay side of the building!  We'll be trimming and the usual tidy up, I'll email beforehand, and hopefully next week won't be quite so sticky and humid!

The week after (30th June). Likely back to Wroxall at the farm. I went and had a look and the hay crop hasn't been cut at that time so parking would be a problem, so I'll make contact again and check on the progress over the next week.

So, hope that is okay, this week bloomin zoomin but then fingers crossed for a couple of sessions over the rest of June.

He did mention that these two venues might be swapped around so, as per usual, keep an eye on your e-mail in tray.

This morning's early fog seemed to be responsible for Phil having a rather strange Dalek type voice, as the fog cleared this got better...! This was the scene at Cowes around 8am...

It seems that some of the more adventurous GG members have been trying sea swimming 😨. Gizmo and I have paddled at Gurnard but that was enough for us..! The cost of the all in one post swimming  "smocks" was discussed and it was agreed that £150 for a hoodie towel was a bit steep 😏.

The arrival of an Egyptian  Eagle in the Scilly Isles raised a few comments, anyone remember the Bee Eaters that visited us a few years ago?

Everyone agreed that this year has been great for gardens, especially for roses. Perhaps that cold spell we had earlier held everything back and then, as the weather improved, everything bloomed simultaneously. Hopefully, the thunderstorms we have forecasted for the next couple of days, won't destroy everything 😔.

Regular readers will know that I have been trying to "improve nature" on the St Mary's Traffic Interchange  island. The wild flower seeds sowed earlier this year haven't been the success that I had hoped for but not a complete failure.

If Island Roads don't strim everything down before it goes to seed then maybe things will improve by next year.

Hopefully we will be out and about next Wednesday morning. Don't forget to keep an eye on your e-mail in tray for any updates.

Stay safe.

Wed 9th June 2021 - Brading Downs. GG # 839.

 Terry's Photographs.

Once again, we managed to escape the Zoom session on the computer and escape to the REAL world👏.

Okay, pulling ragwort isn't everyones idea of an exciting morning out but when it is on Brading Down, with all it's stunning views,  then even PPP has it's benefits.

I don't think there needs to be much of a description as to what the task was, the photos above explain everything. Take a fork and bin bag, dig up any ragwort plants you can find, put into bag and dump into trailer....repeat until it is time to go and treat yourself to an ice cream..!

This was a well attended session and the weather was just about perfect...may we have many more sessions like this over the coming weeks. Mark did indicate that there may well be other "real" GG sessions in the near future so please keep an eye on your e-mails for details.

On the way home I spotted this rather unusual cloud formation. Does anyone else think it resembles a cruise ship..???

Many thanks to Terry for taking the photographs this week.

Take care everyone, stay safe.

Wed 2nd June 2021 - GG Virtual Session # 047.

 The happy Wednesday morning crowd this week were....

With all the glorious weather we have been experiencing recently, it would have been nice to have been out and about for this week's GG session but unfortunately it was yet another Zoom session 😏. 

Mark assures us that next week is an "almost, possible, maybe" for a ragwort pulling session, up on the Downs 👏.

 One of the above (no names mentioned..!) made history for our GG Zoom sessions.... by joining us from overseas..! Apparently travel across Europe isn't too difficult if you do your homework first but the weather for his outward leg sounded truly appalling. Lots of envious comments from other GG members, even though he claims he is "working" 😀.

The conversation then turned to recent sightings of various birds, butterflies and moths that people had seen across the Island. Always pays to keep your eyes wide open when walking around and to keep the phone camera at the ready..!

Fingers crossed that this will be the last Zoom session and we will get back to "REAL" GG sessions again, starting next week.

take care everyone and stay safe.