9 runners met at the Braywick Nature Centre to paint a wood-preserving stain on three circular benches and a fence for the centre's picnic area. We started this job last week and you can read all about that fine community mission by clicking here.

A special welcome to Fi and Simon, who joined us for this first time this evening!

In contrast to last week's heat wave, this evening was drizzly, but we had one extra pair of hands, much bigger tins of stain and a lot of determination to get the job done. Alistair from the Centre set us a very clear goal of completing a second coat on the benches and finishing the first coat on the fence and I'm pleased to say we nailed it!

Making a differ-fence

Yes I shamelessly stole that pun from Sula's report last week! Ana, Vanessa and Meggie were team fence. They worked gracefully and efficiently and their black clothes (sensibly chosen to conceal splashes of paint) lent them a mysterious air - so mysterious in fact that we nearly lost them entirely in the dark camoflage of the fence. They casually chatted in fluent Spanish and English and generally showed up team bench by being way cooler and more cosmopolitan than us.

Bench (im)press

Team bench were a bit less graceful. We spent a lot of time squatting in awkward positions and getting splatters of paint in our hair, but that's OK - some of us had taken anti-chafe measures at the start and we were armed with baby wipes. And what teamwork! With one team member lifting the bench, others wielding brushes and the rest coaching from an appropriate distance we were able to reach even the most elusive spots. Job satisfaction was high as we had the opportunity to cover all the bits we had missed last week, and the second coat (plus a layer of drizzle) really gave a beautiful gleaming finish.

We wonder if future visitors to the picnic area will take the time to lie on the floor and admire our handiwork? Given that many of them will be around 5 years old, we think they just might.

If you're interested to learn more about the Braywick Nature Centre's work, you can follow them on Facebook by clicking here. If you have children I would highly recommend the videos they have been making during COVID-19 lockdown, which you can find on their Facebook page. They are aimed at 4-6 year olds who would normally visit the Centre for outdoor learning at this time of year. They are very engaging and cover everything from stories about trees to pond dipping, bug hunting and campfire craft. You might also spot some familiar picnic benches...

After this evening's task, we set off in two groups for a 2.5k lap of the Parkrun route. We even managed to go in the right direction this time! Despite the damp evening it was lovely to be out running amongst the trees.