Pond life

The tadpoles are developing rapidly. Many now have legs and some have even transformed into tiny froglets which clamber and splash amongst the weed in the corner of our wildlife pond.

There'll be a chance for the public to explore the pond on Wednesday, 11th August, when we open up between 10:00am and 12:00 midday for a pond dipping workshop. A visiting expert from Attenborough Nature Centre will help to identify the pond creatures and explain something about their lives in the pond. There will also be advice and information on pond maintenance.

The day will assist with scientific research as it is being run as part of the OPAL national water survey.

Call Kathy 0115 875 2095 for bookings and details. Children are welcome, but will need to be supervised at all times by a responsible adult carer. Please wear suitable clothing and footwear.

Willow Obelisk Weaving Workshops

You might remember that Saturday was wet. Sorry, I'll type that again - it was WET. However, undeterred and with the aid of 3 gazebos and a polytunnel, the intrepid Dig In folk still ran our willow craft workshops. Lots of happy people laboured in their various shelters to create wonderful willow obelisks for their gardens, under the expert eye of our workshop teacher, Helen Domleo. Helen was back by popular demand following our similar event last year, and, given that we had a huge waiting list for the 2 workshops, I suspect we might need to ask her back again soon.

As always, we managed to feed people with Dig In produce hidden in surprising places - like Kathy's amazing courghette and chocolate cake and Tracey's pumpkin muffins (they really don't taste of pumpkin at all!).

The Saturday group were also undeterred and worked all morning despite the deluge. Well done all, and thank you to everyone who lent us gazebos for the day - we literally couldn't have done it without you.

Half-way through.

The finished article.