We had showers and a breezy day to welcome in another month, a pattern of weather that was to continue for a while before we finally got some frost.
The river level began to drop very slowly over the coming weeks as the very waterlogged ground started to finally dry out! There are a lot more trees along the riverbank coming under the beavers radar these days as we are witnessing more and more trees down about the place.
The continuity of different varieties of fungi appearing around the place continued into this month, with more varieties appearing again.
This month saw our beehive all set up for over the winter period with the insulation board and the hive entrance mouse guard both put in place now.
The clock change at the end of last month has given us a bit more daylight in the mornings and the colder weather has seen us getting some lovely sunrises first thing, always good to see at this time of year.
Up at the Activity Centre the last of the big hedges were given their final cut back and tidy up, always glad to see that one done and finished for the year.
There was a change of job and scenery for us for a few days this month when we were all working down in Newburgh, Fife
where we were cutting and clearing along the path at the back braes above the old boatyard.
That`s it had its annual tidy up right up to the county burn; a lot of the overhanging canopy was cut back too and raised in places, along with the old net green getting a cut as well.
Other jobs this month have included splitting plenty kindling for the wood burning stoves
and getting our annual batch of sloe gin on the go, always worth the effort.
By the time we were into the last week of the month the mercury had fallen right back giving us frosty starts to long cold days where the temperature struggled to get above zero!
The river level continued to steadily fall back as the frosty spell slowed up any runoff from the catchment area and it was sitting at around the four-foot mark by the end of the last day.
Dago