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Ranger Greig set out the objectives for the day explaining the reason behind the project and the importance of the part we would be playing. We used tools and safety equipment to keep our hands clean while we worked. Dividing into two small teams with Ranger Greig, Our Lecturer and our 'Essential Support Staff' we set to work planning and preparing the ground for the plants we had decided would be suitable for this particular project. Ranger Greig had told us that Marsh Marigold and other wild flower species such as Red Campion would be best for this particular area. So with gloves on, trowels in hand and plans in our minds we set to work to make our beds, plant our plants that will grown year after year allowing people and pollinators to comment 'That new pond in The Botannic Gardens is Some Buzz'!!!!!!

We comment every week on the benefits we find within our Active Learning Experiences! We love learning and absorbing facts in this way, learning from Ranger Grieg and her team as well as each other as we Plan, Work, Talk, Listen and Learn. We loves to discover new things like the tricky root systems of the plants we are using and how we need to carefully tease them from the slumber of their compost packed pots. Or walking as we wonder about where best to position our plants, what will happen to them after winter is gone and spring peeks through the clouds! What will the color be like, will the plants grow and will the people who visit the park enjoy our work?? The answers to many of these questions will only be found in the future but for now and while time marches on we will look forward to seeing the yellows and reds creep onto this new watery nature canvas and look forward to our next Nature Based Active Learning Adventure.......

Our work may have been completed however our journey into Active Learning, The Environment and Nature certainly did not!! With the help of our incredible guide (Ranger Greig) we made our way through the park and and into a nature adventure. Story telling is one of the most important elements of learning, a simple fact that is confirmed by people like Sir David Attenborough who wrote 'No one will protect what they don't care about what they never experienced'!! With the stories told by Ranger Greig as we walked through the autumnal colours of the park we learned so much and wanted to hear so much more....

From brilliant barks to leaves filled with hosts of mini beasts and life! While squirrels darted from tree to tree looking for food and affection we learned of the habitats of mini beasts and the stories of trees who had found safety and sanctuary within this Glasgow Park. We learned to appreciate the colours of fallen leaves and even had a bit of fun throwing them and watching them dance and twirl on their way back to their leafy beds. We loved the stone wall that provided shelter and a home for so many mini beasts and gazed cautiously as a wasp tramped its way from rock to rock. With the day now coming to a close we wondered at the words of John Muir when he said 'All Natures Wilderness tells the same story, the socks and outbursts of earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers........' For us we found the same story and feeling a beautiful park in our city and with through the stories of our Glasgow Countryside Ranger Friend who help make the story of nature really come alive!!!!

(2 hrs) Not strictly an outdoor pursuit, though I did have a walk in the lovely woods around the collection which took an hour. A friend and I looked around the Burrell Collection and played a game of looking at all the animals and plants we could find on the exhibits. And my goodness, there were a lot! Some were a bit of a mystery, such as the creatures on the middle eastern rugs, but the medieval tapestries, and some of the very old stained glass, had some plants I still have in my garden today. The tapestries also had creatures we no longer see at the zoo - cockatrice, unicorn and gryphon, to name a few!

Driving to the shops this morning, and a strange bug landed on my windscreen. I drove very slowly to the nearest car park while it clung on, and I was able to take a photo before it flew away. A rather beautiful hawthorn shield bug, with the less beautiful Latin name Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale. Feeds mainly on hawthorn berries, although a range of other deciduous trees are also used, inlcuding oak, hazel and birch.

Damp and humid at Beechbrae today, where we spent time building a barrier from coppiced hazel branches to prevent dogwalkers from taking a shortcut across a sensitive piece of land. Clouds of flies everywhere, even with lemon balm leaves rubbed all over our skin, so we were glad to retreat to the polytunnel, where we we trimmed the flowers off the rocket to keep it growing without going to seed, and we rescued some baby hazel trees from an overgrown planter and potted them up. Later, I whittled some plant markers for use in the polytunnel, and learned about courgettes (they have male and female flowers, a swelling behind the flower shows it will turn into a courgette). Also got a new 'staff' to decorate after my trip to Canada.

(2hrs) My rowan tree was full of baby great tits this morning :) To Beechbrae, more trimming of herbs to stop them flowering (offcuts used in my lunch salad, pics) added strings in the polytunnel for peas, harvested strawberries and broad beans. I also made some observations in and around the veg plot, including berries on the potatoes (a result of the very wet and warm weather, and poisonous to eat - you can really see that potatoes are the same family as my solanum bush in my garden, the fruit and flowers are very similar). Also noticed a cabbage white caterpillar and weird mushrooms. Finally, we restored the ring of stones bordering the fire pit, which were almost lost in the moss and grass.