I am done waiting at the environmental bus-stop...

Just like buses, I have waited and waited for the ideal activities to keep me busy - and this week three came along at once!

I have begun an NVQ, through BTCV, in Environmental Conservation. It is completely free (ideal for the unemployed) and I can do the work while at Stover. Over roughly the next 9 months I will build up a portfolio of the work I have been doing whilst volunteering, keeping daily logs (will only be working 2 days a week) and using photographs as evidence, then will be observed and assessed once a month - sounds easy, doesn't it? Should be a lot of fun too, as I'll be spending a little more time at Stover doing some different things.

The news of my place on the NVQ came after my meeting with Sally Mills on Exminster Marshes to discuss some volunteering for the RSPB - I am looking forward to tomorrow's initial meeting (to get my name-badge!) and getting wet on the boat crossing from Turf to Topsham - should be pretty wet and windy!

Thursday's arrival was greeted with an email from Dawn Lenn - Community Network Co-ordinator for Devon Wildlife Trust. After turning me down for the Seasonal Marine Awareness Officer post at Wembury Marine Centre (a relief to be honest, was a long way to travel everyday!) they seemed really keen to get me involved in something. They have offered me a leader position with Wildlife Watch - the junior arm of Devon Wildlife Trust. Its a local group based in the Stover Area, and they need a third leader to arrange and deliver monthly group meetings and activities. It can involve anything from bushcraft to birdwatching, art to walking, and sounds like an awful lot of fun! It's nice to finally feel like I'm getting somewhere, after many months of rejections and struggling, and who could refuse a few compliments like this...

"you may gather from all this that we really liked you,

thought you'd be great and hated turning you down"

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I am a sucker for such things. Chuffed to bits, I was.

Three "buses" in as many days, it's been a good week. Friday came round quickly and along came volunteers' day at Stover. I let them know about the NVQ and all the other news while walking around the lake. I heard my first Willow Warbler for the season, saw two Sand Martins over the lake (there have been Swallows reported but I haven't seem them yet) and watched the Great Crested Grebes courting each other, shaking their heads and flicking weed about!

Then we got to work, preparing the base for the new shed. We first had to mark out the dimensions then remove any trees or stumps in the way - some saplings were dug out and replanted to create a screen along the side of the shed. We had a small fire to burn brash, and dug the trenches to lay the planks on which the shed will sit. We were lucky with the weather - I even came prepared with my waterproof trousers after the soaking we got last week, but we were treated to bright spells and only a little drizzle.

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I hope next week proves to be as good as this one. We shall wait and see.

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