Thursday 24th and Friday 25th November
We thought our luck was going to run out with the weather this week as the rain poured down in the morning on our way to Dunbog. But magically it cleared as we climbed out of the van and got the tea ready.
After a quick cuppa, and after eating ALL the biscuits and cakes Robert so generously bought, we split in to groups with some of us preparing logs for a story-telling area and the rest getting to work on the construction of a willow tunnel and dome.
The story-telling team began by stripping the bark from the logs and sanding the edges around the top to make them more comfortable. Then what began as a relatively straightforward task became a little more difficult. To get the seating to a comfortable height some of the posts needed to be cut and some of the holes dug deeper. This meant another fight to excavate huge stones from the holes and a valiant fight for Grant to shorten one of the largest logs which just would not be cut with a bow saw! An axe did the job in the end.
The willow structure was a more leisurely task. A small trench was dug to mark the route of the tunnel and dome and the willow arches were planted. The remaining willow was used to create a lattice by weaving it between the arches. This was a particularly tricky part of the job and unfortunately there were a few casualties, but each ember of the team broke one willow so at least no-one felt left out!
As a thank you for all our hard work we were invited in to the school for a tea party and awarded thank you certificates from the children. This was a great way to finish our work at this lovely primary school.