Shepherd hut holidays in Devon can re-open! This week has so far been a very busy one! I can’t tell you how happy I am that we are finally allowed to re-open to guests on July 4th. After some time of speculation around when it might be we have this week had the government announcement to say that this is the date and I am so excited about welcoming people back to our little slice of Shepherd hut Heaven in Devon. It is now all systems go to be ready and up to speed with guidelines for post-Covid protocols. There has been so long to think about it I’m pleased to say that I seem to be pretty much there already.
The other thing I wanted to mention this week is the fact that it is National Insect Week! Being keen, as we are, on our green credentials and protecting and improving our environment for all pollinators, insect and wildlife I have a whole hoard of pictures I could use here so I am trying to reign myself in a bit!
With the river and the small (rather overgown) wildlife pond we have on site we are very lucky to watch a lot of activity with Damselflies and Dragonflies and Mayflies when conditions suit them. They are sometimes tricky to take a snap of but at other times they bask in the sun just long enough to oblige! I love their colours of their wings and the magic of finding an empty dragonfly nymph case on the pond plants after one has crawled up and emerged as an adult!
Another one of our own little rituals is to ‘grow’ caterpillars. Each year we like to order some tiny caterpillars to grow safely in a net at home and watch them transform into chrysalises and finally hatch as butterflies. We tend to choose
Tortoiseshells or Peacock caterpillars as their preferred food source of nettles is always readily available! We like to think that by releasing these beautiful native butterflies on our little patch we are doing our bit to support the species. You can also do this at home. Visit https://www.wwb.co.uk/ to find out more and get your own tiny native caterpillars.
We are also lucky enough to have an, increasingly unusual, wild honey bee colony living in one of our old oak trees. They are fascinating little creatures and hopefully our wild flowers and low input methods in our sheep fields will support them for many years to come. I’ve been told they could have been in residence for up to 200 years!!
It’s always nice to stumble across any of the wildlife or when it inadvertently puts itself in our path but this week is all about the insects!
During the process there are invariably breakdowns of one sort or another and it isn’t always the idylic country event it can sometimes appear to be – particularly if rain is forecast and we are working against the clock, so it always something of a relief to see the clamp full, covered and know that this job can be ticked off!
