Willow Wreaths Part 2

Wednesday, December 20th 2017

The second Winter Willow Wreath event was held this morning, with a group of participants who confessed nervously to never having made a willow wreath before. With the weather being warmer, we were fortunate that the willow was less brittle and easier to bend so there were fewer occasions when the willow snapped than in the previous event. After half an hour the nervous questions (“What do I do with this bit?”; “Am I doing this right?”) had given way to a period of intense concentration while everyone was working on their first wreath.

Once the wreaths had started to take shape, everyone became much more relaxed and there was plenty of conversation about where people had come from and discovering common connections and interests. By the first break most had started making their second wreath and were ready for tea, coffee and mince pies.

After the break, there was a quick foray to collect foliage and cones to adorn the wreaths. Back in the Activity Room, the discussion turned to the best way to tie a bow on to the wreaths, how to tell the difference between Scots Pine and Sitka Spruce, and who sang the song “Come Outside” back in the early 1960s.

There was also time to talk about the importance of Foxglove Covert for bird ringing and at least two of the participants said that they would like to come back to see ringing in progress. Judging by the smiles and the wreaths created by the end of the event, everybody had a really good time and are looking forward to doing more of the same next year!

In the meantime, although the moth trap did not produce many moths, two of the volunteers went looking for fungi and came back with a good assortment. They spent the second part of the morning identifying the species, as well as the shredded Sitka Spruce cones that looked like they had been attacked by a woodpecker to get at the seeds.

So it was a very satisfying morning for all concerned, not forgetting the volunteers who helped with Christmas decorations and in filling the bird feeders outside. There was definitely a feeling that Christmas is just around the corner!

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