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With our designs completed and scissors safely stored away it was time to press and complete our finished Sun Catchers. It was the end of another great day and all that was lef to say was 'Thanl You' to Megan and the Team at Provanhall. We are sure that you will agree that by looking at our two environmental activities, the smiles of satisfaction spread across all of our faces and the sun as it pours through our finished art work that we most definitely did 'Catch The Sun'!!!! To be continued......

Our afternoon was filled with colour as we spent the afternoon in the excellent company of Provanhalls very own Artist Megan! After a grey and cold start to the morning the sun had started to shine and although our fingers were cold and toes were numb we were determined to 'Catch the Sunshine'. And with the help of Megan this is exactly what we did. We used brightly coloured materials, choosing our favourite colours and creating our favourite shapes to make a variety of designs. With her artisitc ideas Megan suggested that we add texture to our designs and produced a variety of herbs that we would then press into our finished work. We sniffed and smelled the herbs and with the help of our resident Chef and Support worker Colin were able to identify many of the herbs that we used.

The second part of our morning at Auchinlea Pond would see us undertake a litter pick that was sadly badly needed at this lovely green space. We made our way around the pond for a second time and as the heads of the birds looked up our eyes looked down as we gathered bag after bag of litter. Local people passed by as they walked their dogs and thanked us with a nod of the head or a kind word, it was good to know that we had made a difference. After completing this second activity of the day it was time to move on and into the nearby Provanhall House to let our imaginations race forward with colour and creativity as we worked with Megan and the fantastic staff at Glasgows oldest house....

Our Adventures into the Environment continued today at Auchinlea Pond in Glasgow where we worked with Senior Countryside Ranger for Glasgow Allison Greig. Our task was to assist Ranger Greig with a WeBS Survey on the pond. Our first task was to attract the wildlife on the pond and we managed to do this by using some Floating Bird Pellets. These pellets act as replacements for essentail foods that the wild foul would find in their natural diets. We circled the pond with a variety of birds on our 'tails' as the feeding pellets rained down and around the flapping feet and frothing water! Birds that we counted included 2 Mute Swans, 9 Canada Geese, 26 Mallard Ducks of which there were 19 makes and 7 females. The variety in this small pond continued to surprise us with 2 Moorhens, 3 Coots, 8 Greylag Geese, 1 Tufty Duck, 2 Gooseander and last but certainly not least a lovely little Wren. To say that we were amazed by this was an understatement and as we listened to Ranger Greig we realised that all of this and more is there for us all to see and enjoy with visits to Glasgows amazing parks and green spaces.

What a day, temperature to start was a balmy -3 deg C, and with the sun rising high in the sky the mercury shot up to 5 deg C. This contributed to the casting of layers and bathing in the spring sunshine. It was noted that the existing plants have started to bud and the group had a chat to the estate gardener who was concerned that we may yet see a frost that could damage the growth. The group managed to get some ground cleared to get some of the new batch of trees in, loads more to do. It is all ways welcome when your efforts are appreciated, when one of the pupils out with us said as we were getting on the bus, 'thank you for this Mr Milton', 'What do you mean', I asked. 'Getting us outside', 'Your welcome', choked!

Carrying on from last week, the group were cutting back some thick bramble in the field near the wardens base. A butterfly called the dingy skipper has been spotted in this area due to the flowering “birds foot trefoil” a main food source for the caterpillar and other wildlife. Cutting back back scrub will encourage more “birds foot trefoil” to grow and attract more butterfly’s. The dingy skipper like the white letter hairstreak is on the species of principal important list. Saltwells is a National Nature Reserve and also a geological site hosting two national Sites of Special Scientific importance. Emma the warden showed us some metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous rocks and explained how the layers were made up and also how fossils form. The oldest rocks were from the Silurian times and date back to 420 million years ago, the group found it really interesting! Thanks Emma.

This week saw the group adventuring round Caddam wood with the use of WhatThreeWords to navigate round a course, here is the twist they had to produce a story using the words to produce a story as they go. The story part kind of fell apart, we have to blame the weather as storm Jocelyn edged it's way toward us. However this did not diminish the enthusiasm of the group as they set about building a shelter made entirely out of natural materials, they also built a rope crossing over the chasm of death, 'ankle deep ditch'. The morning tested the resilience and the waterproofs of the group, skills working together and confidence. Well done, it is after all only rain.

After the success of our groups Xmas Reindeer sales, the monies raised were divided equally between Barnardos, and a fund to pay for an excursion for the youngsters in the Wellbeing Hub. Here's some photos of three of the boys, who have just completed their Discovery Awards, handing the cheque over at Barnardos shop in South Queensferry. We are doing some pallet crafts while we prepare for starting the Explorer Award with the group. The group raised nearly £550, so were able to present a cheque for £266 to Barnardos. Well done guys!