Mud, mud glorious mud

We beat the All Blacks this year, I was there!, (c Colin Elsey)

Seriously muddy in the Nursery, (c Pete Williams)

Not a great end to the year but in keeping with one of the wettest for a long while. Spent the damp morning in the nursery churning out more wood supplies. As may be expected with the conditions the mud becoming increasingly cloying. This provided Mike with quite a challenge as he had to drive the Ford Ranger with loaded trailer out of the mud wallow to make the deliveries. Some pretty impressive driving required without resorting to a tow using the tractor.  Made it to lunchtime albeit a little wet and mud spattered but the rain put paid to the usual walk round this part of the Sherborne estate.  The afternoon was a bit of a gamble since the rain initially eased but gradually got heavier. However two more loads were produced before we finally called it a day without the Ford Ranger getting stuck and Maddie getting her afternoon exercise.

So not a bad year with the weather limiting the extent of countryside conservation I could contribute to but lets hope for better opportunities and weather in 2013. On the negative side are clearly the various fungal diseases attacking our woodlands and a Conservative Government influenced Defra which ought to be performing better ( Mark Avery view more extreme ).  On the plus side has been more reasonable documentaries raising awareness of our neglected countryside and core skills. Perhaps the leaders of our key charities and supporters of nature can inspire real action to get our youth and education centres more involved in nature. If only we could find something akin to the Olympics for involving more people 'in standing up for our countryside' and to act as a springboard for more sustainable actions.