Short and sweet

Weather we'd like for Apple weekend 

Tuesday at Snowshill provided dry and sunny weather which was a great help as we erected the 3 large Marquees and collected/setup the tables in readiness for the apple weekend celebrations starting this coming Saturday at Snowshill. Our hope for the great weather of last years event may be a stretch but the apple collection will be much improved given better growing conditions this year.

Morris was at Sherborne today which can only mean one thing, a visit to the bat roosts for a bat count. Not so lucky with the weather, heavy persistent rain, we seem to be making up for a relatively dry year. Nice surprise at the bat cave, given the temperatures have been mild of late, as there were one or two bats flying around in this winter roost. The final tally was 83 lesser horseshoes in the bat cave,  31 in the kennels, 5 in the Bothy and a record 56 in the Nursery cellar. They all looked in good shape and the total for this time of year pretty healthy. Even though we completed the count in record time we were all soaked, so since the rain showed no signs of relenting,  Mike called it a day for any further outside work.

Possibly not my best decision but I opted to pay a visit, while in the area, to the Water meadows and river Windrush. In the heavy rain I was glad to be wearing wellingtons as the previously dry paths were pretty damp. Not much luck in spotting wildlife but the Sherborne brook and Windrush water levels were looking better given a fairly dry year. Good to see the newly erected rustic fencing down by the  Windrush completed and  surprised to see one of the large pastures adjacent to the Water Meadows ploughed. The  sun did finally make an appearance but by this time, even with waterproofs, I was pretty damp. Spotted a heron, cormorant and red kite before I left the meadows area. To end the day I paid a visit to Clarks Close where I had a quick look at the hedges we built and aside from the weeds most of the hedge plants looked to be growing well.