June month started off with a glorious day and the mercury hitting 25˚C and the river level was to stay stable, give or take a few inches, for the next couple of weeks.
Along with all the routine grass cutting this month there was a bit time spent tackling some areas of hogweeds about the place.
Some were getting a bit large for the sprayer so they were cut back with the hedge bills before their flower heads could go to seed. It is an ongoing battle, but you must persevere, or it will soon take over.
Another job taken care of this month was giving the big hedge up at the Activity centre its first cut of the season,
always a good one to get out of the way for another few weeks.
Mid-month saw some very heavy rain and a little spike in the river level of around a foot, but it was soon settling back again after a few days. The succession of wildflowers along the river banks continued over the weeks
and it was good to see the odd patch of blue monkshood appearing in some places,
along with the comfrey, vetch, meadow cranesbill and many others. The wildlife about the riverside can be a bit harder to see sometimes now with all the growth over the last few weeks but we are still seeing the deer
and the odd red squirrel, you just must be a bit more patient sometimes when you are looking.
After a few days of very blustery weather near the end of the month things had settled back again, the river level was steady at around the 1ft 4inch mark,
and it was good to see a few fish getting caught now up at the Cargill rod beat.
Dago