Trees for Life last work week of the season, at Dundreggan
So I’ve just finished the last work week of the season. It was great. My co-focaliser was the TFL legend, Gordon McRuvie, and the group was a great mix of young and experience, local, national and international. Norman had managed to squeeze himself onto the week following our encounter at Dundreggan, and I was glad to spend some time with Bill, given his thoughts for the future.
We spent a couple of days planting 2000 or so trees in the field by the river Moriston. The field had already been planted up during previous weeks and it was a matter of filling in the gaps. The first couple of mornings were crispy white, just as Scottish winter mornings should be.
The rest of our work was spent improving the plantation in the West of the estate for Black Grouse use.
After we dropped the group off in Inverness, myself and Gordon drove back to Findhorn. No change-over today. The last week of the season. It was probably more to do with how much I’d enjoyed the week just gone, as opposed to knowing that I was due a break from work weeks for a while, that made me feel a bit reluctant to say goodbye to Gordon when we dropped off the van. As we had done with all the volunteers, as we left them at the train station, we hugged good bye. Then we shouted “Shabbbroch!” to each other a couple of times, whilst passionately beating our chests with our right hand, as I drove my van out of the car park, with the intention of finding myself a quiet spot to contemplate the finer points of the week…
Anyway, check out these photos. There’ll be a link to more photos, when I have a better internet connection.
Ok, all photos are now uploaded. To view them click this link.
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- As a Focaliser, one of our roles is to work out how to remove the security tags from clothes that volunteers have recently ‘acquired’
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- The group on Sunday morning, looking decidedly happy with each other considering they’ve been together for less than 12 hours
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- Minus 3 on our first morning. These little icicles are created as the ground freezes and the expanding water is forced out
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- Project Manager, Steve Morris gives us a talk about the estate
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- Day 2 in the Trees for Life house and we wake to a picture postcard morning
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- The mighty Gordon celebrates after the last tree is planted. Irene is glad she made the trip from Holland to see this
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- The ‘re-introductory walk’ – we walk out above the trees to see the sun setting. It’s still only 1.30pm…
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- The Woodland Grant Scheme area on Dundreggan. Look at that growth! I nearly had to change my pants
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- Still in the WGS area – signs that the Black Grouse are settling in. Shortly after this, a male took off in front of us and we were able to watch it for a long time as it flew down towards the edge of the plantation below
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- This pot has ended up in my van, only half finished, after I found it in the ‘perishables’ box in the back of the work week van
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- Angela removes another volunteer’s head. Norman’s excuse was that he was checking out a caterpillar
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- Everyone was a star, but my prize for good sport of the week has to go to Lisa. She took a huge amount of ribbing and still smiled her way through every part of the week. She’s great at Pilates and can lop her own body weight’s worth of branches in minutes
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- The group look forward to their last bus tour with Jimmy and Angus
Life since the office 
Hey Phil, great photos. I know I know, you get loads of great weeks, great vols etc but we were the best huh?
LX
20 November, 2009 at 11:13 am
Also must remember my own web address. soz.
20 November, 2009 at 11:14 am
Yep, you surely were. Hopefully no one on any of my previous work weeks will read these comments anyway…
(But, if anyone else is reading this, Lucy has a pretty cool job. It’s worth checking out her web site – click her name on the second of her two comments above)
20 November, 2009 at 8:37 pm