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We explored the grounds of Rowdeford School and recorded all the signs of Autumn that we discovered to share.

Another first for me this weekend was a visit to the Peak District National Park. I travelled by 4 different train with 7 Junior Rangers and Ranger Rob to a weekend of fantastic adventures with 5 National Parks all coming together for the first ever UK National Parks Junior Ranger camp. From our base at Hagg Farm we spent two days discovering, exploring and helping to look after this part of their National Park. I joined a group to mountain bike around Derwent water, part of the many reservoirs that make up this National Park. It was a lovely 16 km cycle through some stunning landscapes, and we learnt how the Dambusters used this reservoir to practice their flying techniques. There were so many fabulous fungi in the woods, and one of the Junior Rangers was very knowledgeable so I learnt how to identify the edible Hedgehog fungi, as well as the many to stay away from! If in doubt, don't touch was the motto. We also managed an afternoon of Rhododendron clearing, an activity I always enjoy. The Junior Rangers really got stuck in and cleared a large section next to a footpath, all working together as a great team and making new friends. I also made some great friendships with other Education Officers from the other National Parks, and look forward to more of these networking and sharing opportunities in the future. A really brilliant weekend was had by all, I learnt so much about the other National Parks as well as realising how many UK National Parks I still haven't visited yet.

What an amazing start to our teams John Muir Award, and my personal Conserver Award. I had never been to Shiehallion before, a John Muir Trust property in rural Perthshire. It was so exciting to drive through new landscapes on the way to meet everyone. There is something so rewarding about planting trees, the conservation task that Liz, Mike and Sarah from the John Muir Trust had planned for us. Our team had never planted trees on any of our previous John Muir Award days so this was another 1st for us. We managed to plant 150 native Scots Pine and Aspen (both some of my personal favourites!) to help contribute to a new woodland for part of the site. Something that our children, and their children can enjoy, as well as all the other 20,000 visitors and local wildlife that come here. After a lovely picnic lunch we were taken part of the way up through the glen to enjoy the spectacular views and learn more about how the Trust manage the landscape here,. The rusty russet colours we experienced on this short ramble were very autumnal and the roar of the stag rut in the distance was eerily enjoyable, again another first for many of us. A remarkable place, and huge thanks to everyone who organised it. I'll definitely be back to check in on the wee trees!

We have been in the sensory garden this week smelling the variety of herbs, flowers and leaves deciding which ones we like best. We discovered mint, fennel, lemon balm, a curry plant, lavender, sage and rosemary. There were also some beautiful flowers: our favourite was 'pink lips' (salvia).

This was the first outing for our next round of JM awards having completed our Discovery or Explorer awards earlier this year and we got off to a great start on the Trusts estate at Schiehallion. I realised that Schiehallion holds a lifelong appeal to me, having being introduced to the mountain when I was around 9 or 10 in some tricky conditions. On that day a large group of us became lost coming off the top and ended up down the south western edges of Schiehallion before requiring a long walk around its base. We returned a few years later and completed the Munro under much more pleasant circumstances. (Many) years later at a crossroads in my life, I began volunteering with JMT as a way to escape my current line of career, and after working a few weekends at the Glenlude estate, found myself one weekend helping to repair the path on the sides of this popular Munro. This volunteering eventually led me to a new job at Loch Lomond NP as well as the completion of my HNC in Countryside Management and in turn an introduction to the JMA. These days are a fantastic way of reconnecting with both the land in which we move through, and my work family. Too often it is easy to take these open moorland and slopes for granted when tied to the office desks. On this day we drove through beautiful early morning sunshine through the Trossachs, past a shimmering Loch Tay and the beautiful green village of Fortingall nestled in the valley. We were on the estate today with Liz Auty and Mike Daniels of the JMT to help plant 150 trees as part of the larger rewilding and planting efforts going on across this part of Perthshire. Down in the earth, digging holes and placing life into the ground to one day become mighty life-preservers of the planet themselves. Having been hear on a path repair previously and having camped wild on the open slopes of the mound of the Caledonians, it felt like truly I was a part of this scene now. And forever will be. How many feet will cross that path with stones I placed, and how much life will be protected or supplied by those trees I planted. A tour of the estate followed in the afternoon, moving around the path that, years before we were lost and tired on as we tramped our way back to Braes of Foss. The deer on the hill and roar of the stags placed us solely in natures care as we watched them from afar. The ferns were already turning orange and brown, furnishing the hillsides with a welcoming glow. There are great efforts being made to make the estate accessible to more people with the introduction of a new path, while Liz is looking ahead to improvements in the biodiversity of these wind scoured slopes. Once again a John Muir day never fails to bring reflection on myself, my surroundings and my impacts, and like the invisible contour lines that run eternally around the whaleback of quartzite, I feel I've added my own lines to this evolving corner of conservation in Scotland and JM estate.

What a day to be immersed in the footholds of Schiehallion. I've biked around this special place many times, but never had the chance to play a part in managing and looking after it. My first day of my Conserver Award, we planted 150 native trees at her feet. We also tied into our first team JMA day and experiencing it with them made it all the more special. I took time to read some of the 'Living Mountain' before the day, and shared the book with the team....explaining with delight the similarities I feel when out in nature to those that Nan Shepherd and John Muir describe; the feeling that when one goes out, we are really going in.... The positivity and inner glow from the day really stayed with me over the weekend......Schiehallion itself is now very much on my list of hills to explore!

I have been cutting back the trees. I have also been cutting grass and the wild flower patch and spreading all the seeds from inside of the poppy heads. It is important to remove dead foliage so that the ground doesn't get fertilised. I had cut down some of the Bay leaves so they weren't curving over the edge of the pond, and I also cut down the little sapling Bay plants. I also had a sneaky pear break and gave some pears to year 3/4.