It was Blue Monday but we were all in high spirits for Ellie’s birthday celebrations and our THREE new joiners. A big welcome to Shannon, Jess and Lauren!

Dani had a short list of outside tasks which we were grateful for with the rain!

We started off moving some flooring which was much heavier than it looked and then we moved onto moving the compost heap (mostly poo) to the back of the pen! Everyone took a turn forking and Ellie was self appointed compost queen on the top of the pile. We took a break after our hard work with some time feeding the goats and sheep and meetings all the inside animals. Then a quick birthday cake celebration after the task with the most delicious vegan Victoria sponge!

We headed off on a very cold and icy night for a litter pick on our most can-filled alleyway. We had hoped there might be a bit less rubbish as an old building had been demolished and cleared, but clearly no one made a new year resolution not to drop litter! We didn’t quite make our previous record of 100 cans, but we think we were pretty close. Hopefully the next time we visit there might not be so many!

We can’t believe it but it’s already time to pack down Santa’s grotto! After spreading much joy it was alas time for Santa to return to the North Pole to get ready for the big day. Don’t worry though as he left an ample bunch of elves away to get things clean and tidy for new year. He even left his newest recruit behind so welcome to Yoyo. We hope to see you back again soon. Merry Christmas everyone!

Five of us headed to Aldermoor Farm yesterday evening for a leafy challenge. The job was to clear up the leaves from the grassy area, load them into the wheelbarrow, and take them down to the chicken coops. We tipped the piles onto the muddy floor so they could soak up some of the mess and give the chickens something fun to scratch around in. We didn’t see the chickens—they were tucked up for the night—but we hope they woke up to a nice surprise this morning! There were a few laughs along the way, especially when Sarah got her hand stuck in the leaf grabbers (all good now!). Once the work was done, we admired the farm glowing with Christmas lights—a festive finish to a muddy but satisfying task.

After all the festivities at the Rose Road Association Christmas Fair it was time for a big tidy up! We set to work sorting out the bottle tombola, locating parts of elf costumes, tidying refreshments away and sorting through donations. We even started sorting things out that Santa might like to use for next year’s grotto presents. We had just enough time left over for a group shot with scary Santa. We won’t look forward to seeing him again next year!