Inclement Weather Doesn't Deter Volunteers at Didsbury Park
TODAY
In complete contrast to last Monday, we had to work in some very inclement weather at times today. However despite heavy showers persisting throughout the morning we still had a remarkable turnout of 32 hardy volunteers. We were particularly proud to welcome MIkhel, husband of Myra, who worked with us this morning before having to return to the Ukraine later this week.
Picture 1 shows Myra, Jane, Christine and Mikhel posing for a photograph during our coffee break this morning. We were also very pleased to welcome Kevin C for the second time. and some of our non regular volunteers who can only make it on public hoiidays. These included Laurent and Marie-Claude, and Xin and his great team of helpers. Everbody was made very welcome.
PREPARATION FOR THE KAVS GARDEN PARTY
Our work continued today to make improvements to the DNC garden ahead of our garden party to be held there on Monday 24th June. The team consisting of Ian, Kevin C, Laurent and Tristan undertook the challenge this morning of collecting wheelbarrows full of good soil from the storage areas near the bowls hut and moving it to the raised flower beds in the DNC. Thank you all - this was a fantastic job to almost fill up the raised flower beds, in the DNC garden. Thank you all.
Elsewhere in the DNC garden, Gill N and Emma were busy drafting layout plans for serving the food and drinks at the garden party. There were many considerations to be taken into account and the resultant drawings were a great step forward. After this excellent piece of work the drafts will now be reviewed later this week by the event organising team. Thank you Emma and Gill - this was a great piece of work.
Later in the morning Geoff surveyed the stage area of the DNC garden in order to determine the best design for the plaque holder which is to be unveiled at the garden party. Thank you Geoff - this is much appreciated.
On the opposite side of the park, we had a team made up of Sonia, Sandra, Christine, Jane, Myra and Mikhel who continued the improvement work at the Sandhurst Road gate which was started last week.The emphasis this morning was on preparing the gates for painting on a dry day soon (we hope!). The team were armed with buckets of hot water, washing liquid, various brands of cleaning creams and sprays and scrubbing brushes and made an incredible improvement to gates. All the mildew has now been removed from the paintwork and the gates are ready to be painted
Thank you everyone. This is a really great result and once repainted will hopefully make a huge impression on the Lord Lieutenant when she arrives at this gate.
BUDDY AND LUCY FACELIFT
Last Saturday Allan, Niels and I took advantage of the warm dry weather to start some maintenance work on our special carving of Buddy and Lucy. It is clear that there are many cracks which have appeared in this enormous single piece of oak. We have discussed this with the original wood sculptor and he has advised that these can be filled. However on Saturday before we started filling the cracks we treated each one with wood hardener in order to prevent any further rotting especially in some cracks which had been collecting water. We expect this maintenance to be a long careful process and we are plannng to return do some further work again on Saturday when the weather forecast is looking good again. Thank you Allan and Niels for all your help on Saturday.
Picture 2 shows our team who did some further work today around Buddy and Lucy. Led by Xin, the team not only weeded away the grass which had started to appear in patches in the old woodchip but they also topped up the woodchip itself with a fresh supply. This was a huge improvement - thank you for such a great piece of work!
DANGEROUS PAVING
Every winter the paving at the entrance to the Bird Garden seems to grow a very slippy mildew across its smooth surface. When it becomes wet this surface can be extremely dangerous. It was reported to us this morning that a gentleman had slipped over on it at the weekend. Consequently this morning we took immediate action and Sonia, Sandra and Christine scrubbed and bleached the whole area of paving.
Picture 3 shows Sandra and Sonia posing for a picture after the work had been finished - note the super clean paving! Thank you Christine, Sonia and Sandra.
BIRD GARDEN HEDGES
Picture 4 shows another challenging job which Niels and Allan undertook between the showers. With a combination of warm and wet weather the hedges in the park seem to have had a fairly vigorous growth spell. In the picture Niels can be seen using the electric hedge trimmer to level off the Bird Garden hedge and Allan can be seen in the background tidying up any sections needing an extra manual trimming. Thank you so much - you have both made a huge improvement.
RECOVERING THE EDGES
We have been suffering in the park during the last few weeks with overlong grassed areas. Unfortunately this makes the park look unkempt and makes it very difficult for dog owners to find where their dogs have been to the toilet. So we have been very grateful that we have had an overdue visit from MCC this week to cut the grass for us.. As a consequence today we could begin the work of recovering the edges of our flower beds where the long grass had grown over into the beds. So today Greg, Wendy, and Marie-Claude set about the challenge of recovering the edges on the flower beds around the park.
Picture 5 shows Marie-Claude alongside the superb results which she and Wendy achieved this morning.working on the flower bed opposite the rockery (aka the T bed). This was a huge improvement - thank you so much!
AND ELSEWHERE IN THE PARK
-The cutting of the grass on the sports field this week has allowed us to start the work of preparing a wicket for playing cricket. So today Gary took the electric mower to the sports field to begin the process. Unfortunately the weather conditions were not condusive to producing a fine cut and the inevitable "rain stopped play" had to be declared and the lawn mower retired to the pavilion!
We are hoping for better luck next week
-Meanwhile it was great to see Dianne not only adding more plants to the Flower Walk but also doing some excellent weeding in that area too. Thank you Dianne. Picture 6 shows just how stunning the Flower Walk is looking at the moment
-A huge thank you as ever to Brenda and David for tidying up the Gillbrook Road entrance area today. David also did some additional pruning and cutting back of overgrown plants. Thank you Brenda and David. This area is looking great.
-Alan's main focus today was upon smartening up raised beds in the cafe garden. This area is looking so much better for your attention. Thank you Alan.
THIS WEEK'S FREE BONUS OFFER
Picture 7 shows a free pair of new, never worn, size 7, green wellington boots which are looking for a new home. If you would like them then will you please let Allan know!
KAVS AWARD CEREMONY - 11th JUNE AT GORTON MONASTERY
The volunteers who will be representing FoDP at the KAVS Award Ceremony on Tuesday 11th June will be Sonia, Brenda, Allan and myself. There was no need to put the names into a hat as, in the end, these were the only people who said they wanted to attend. Just so there is no confusion - this event is entirely different from our garden party on Monday 24th June.
FINALLY - TWO MORE LOVELY PICTURES OF THE PARK THIS WEEK
Picture 8 shows the triangular flower bed looking better than it has ever looked before and now containing hollyhock, aruncus, roses and magnificent giant alliums.
Picture 9 shows the 'smoke tree' donated by Charles in 2017 as an 18 inch shrub. It was a leaving present from Charles because he was moving away from the area. Just look at it now - it is stunning!
Thank you once again for your amazing support.