Autumn Joy

Scrub bash – bonfire – “Can life get any better?”

A distinct mood of joy was evident among Green-Gymmers even before today’s session, in one of our favourite locations in the Chilterns.  Indeed pre-Gym seemed almost an event in its own right today, with some ingenuity displayed in using the facilities already there for changing into boots …

“Ah, that’s what those posts are for!”

and a pre-session introduction to a flower species new to most of us, the ‘fragrant gladiolus’ (G. murielae) which one of our number had cultivated in his garden:

“Abyssinian Gladeoli”

Enthusiasm is a hallmark of Wallingford Green Gym anyway.  However, felling (small) invasive trees, and reducing trees already cut down by other groups, has to be one of our volunteers’ favourite tasks.  This was the first such session of the 2014-15 season.  No doubt there will be many such work-outs to come, but there is always particular delight in the first one.  Especially in a scenic location with beautiful weather to match:

 

The Chief Stoker soon had such a good fire going, it was rather a question of keeping one’s distance:

… and engaging an assistant stoker:

Those who were not able to come today missed out not only on some mega-tree-felling, but also on lemon-drizzle cake!

As for sights of autumn, I think these bijou fungi (gymnopilus? – not edible!) were the most remarkable:

To complete our day, we had a visitor: from one of our colleagues at BBOWT, who were experiencing a little difficulty with their Alpine Tractor.  Always a mistake to turn an engine off in the field – you never know what effort it may take to get it going again!  Doing work the Green-Gym way, of course, we don’t experience problems like that, but I’m sure some of our guys would just love to get their hands on an Alpine Tractor …