Four Super Slugbusters at Aldermoor Farm this evening on a mission to hunt for slugs, gathering them in a bucket ready to feed to the ducks in the morning. Wilson arrived about thirty seconds late — a rare event, given how often they preach about being early — so Abby and Ellie took full advantage, pressing their faces against the gate and insisting they’d been waiting ages. This ended up being a bonus though, because it meant they’d already had time to do a quick litter pick before Wilson had arrived. Plenty of slugs were found, especially on the infamous “slug tree,” the slug buckets were filled and carried well by Sarah and Abby making the whole task a slimy but satisfying success.

Inspired by watching someone spend a long time kicking a large bit of wrapping paper away from their car before they got into it (when they could have just picked it up!) I decided to do a quick litter pick before slug hunting at the farm. It wasn't long before i had a full bag of litter. We will have to return as there is so much more to pick!

Together Ms J and I worked out her grocery list in English as she said she knew the English words, but not how to write them. It was then off to the local Polish supermarket to get her preferred items. Her English was way better than my Polish! I was not so good when trying to work out the labels, but fortunately had taken some photos of items to match what was needed. The most tricky one, however, was the ham as it wasn’t sold in packets and there were loads of choices of meat in the delicatessen that all looked the same to me. The person behind the counter was very helpful and said I could try the ham to see which one to get, but not being a ham eater and not knowing Ms J’s preferences it wouldn’t have been much help! We went with the most popular one and then I headed back to deliver the goods. Ms J seemed very pleased to be stocked up again as she is not able to get out easily herself. I completed two miles nearly walking, but that was partly me going the wrong way looking for the house at the start!

After our success at our first toad patrol on Monday night we were excited to have our induction at a different local site which is very new to being monitored so has few volunteers. We had some drizzle on route there and it was just about warm enough. We started with a briefing from Kim who told us all about how to pick the toads up and check what sex they were. We then headed out in three groups with us GoodGymers bringing up the rear! The road is a 60mph limit and was quite busy with people on their way home from work. Fortunately the section patrolled is quite wide so there was plenty of space to move aside. There were a couple of casualties found and one live newt, but no toads or frogs out and about tonight. We're all set up now though to patrol on our own as we know the popular crossing sections and where to release. Oh and bonus Sarah found herself three golf boys that can be utilised for physio recommendations!

Well done to Abby completing her 300th good deed!!

We all set off very excited for our first evening of toad patrol on Hensting Lane. All day we hoped for rainy, mild weather and we were lucky the rain set in as we were setting off. The first stretch of the lane Mike showed us the ponds to release the toads into and told us lots of information about the toads including how to identify male and female toads. Our first find was actually a newt! On the walk back up the lane all the toads had started to make their way to the road. In total 14 male toads, 5 females and 3 newts were helped to safety. Sadly two toads got run over so it goes to show how important the patrols are as it could have been a lot more without our helping hands. Now we just have to hope for some more mild and rainy evenings in February and March so we can go help again!

Thank you to everyone who made my 39th birthday extra special by making donations to their local food bank and restocking Southampton City Farms period products. Only a year for the big 4 0 so we'll have to get planning a very very good task for 2027!