HEDGING H MY BEST

In the wake of my dry stone walling success, I have h signed up for a hedge laying course in the t Brecon Beacons at the end of the month. The T course is for “complete beginners to traditional hedge-laying, and those seeking to add to woodland management or landscape gardening skills, and is a great present for garden lovers and rural skill enthusiasts”. e It’s I also a great present to myself. I do wish I had paid more attention to the local loc craftsmen when I was younger; my grandad gra was competent in so many of the countryside cou skills but from memory he preferred pre not to have kids asking him endless questions qu while he worked. Mind you, I can totally understand that! And I am grateful to be able to learn the skills and crafts cra now. Hedge H laying can be conducted between late October Oct and early March while the hedging plants are dormant, and there are a few day courses left for this season. Whilst small group bookings are taken for a minimum of four people, single participants can join in on most group days. I have enjoyed “A Good Day Out’ previously, whilst walking sheep for BBC’s Countryfile and am delighted that they are offering these “skilled” courses for beginners. As well as the numerous cute animals you can still walk with, they also offer other alwayswanted-to-learn experiences including sheep shearing, lambing, Ghurkha cooking, an owl experience, sheepdog shepherding and lots more. Pop into www.gooddayout.co.uk to find out more, and I’ll bet you’ll find it hard to choose just one! Good job they offer vouchers which are a great gift for those people who have everything, except experience of these fabulous things. Another lovely synchronicity, is that with all Good Day Out experiences, a good cause benefits from you buying a voucher. In the case of the Hedgelaying Day a portion of each voucher will go towards Tools for SelfReliance Cymru. TFSR collect old and unwanted hand tools and sewing machines. They clean repair and sharpen them, and send tool kits and sewing machines to grass roots community groups in several African countries. All of my own garden tools (and most recently a sewing machine – another project-inwaiting) are from their fabulous workshop in Crickhowell and I was rather proud to be made a Patron of TFSR Cymru two years ago. Find them at www.tfsrcymru.org.uk What a lovely circle of “supposed-to-be-ness”.