Gnome report for September 2023

       Well my fellow worshippers, the junior gnome here to provide you                                                                with a wee report on the goings on, maintenance wise in our lovely                                                          Church, (my bias showing again, sorry, can’t help myself). Anyway, the                                             Gnomes have been busy keeping the gardens tidy, the grass cut,                                                                        weeding done and the appropriate planting of flowers, whether they                                                        were gifted by your good selves or bought with the donations of money that that have been given to Colin or Dougie. So, a big thankyou once again for all your support, all the positive comments that have been given regarding the presentation of the Church gardens, is largely down to all you guys, so a big well done to you all.

     The garden strimmer the Gnomes have been using for the past few years has given up the ghost and the Gnomes are in the process of sourcing another one, we are looking at the possibility of purchasing a battery operated one. Hopefully this will keep us going for a good few years to come.

     Other work the Gnomes have been getting to grips with since the last report are these. If you remember, in the last report I informed you that a concrete step had to be dug out and removed as it was crumbling and was becoming unsafe. A temporary wooden one had been put in place as a short-term replacement. Well, this has indeed been replaced with another concrete step by the Gnomes and is looking pretty good, but more importantly, is stable and therefore safe. The handrail that is in the middle of the steps coming up to the main path at the front of the Church was noted to be wobbly, so for the same reason, this was dug out, repainted and re-concreted back in place, and is now solid and also now safer to use.

 

   I have to report that over the past couple of months there have been children climbing onto the roof of the doorway to the large hall, which leads to the area of the roof at the stain glass windows in the Sanctuary, and across to the flat roof above the emergency exit. After some phone calls and e mails back and forward with the police. The community police officers met with the head Garden Gnome, (Colin) and after some discussion it was decided to use anti climb paint at strategic points around the Church premises, with appropriate signage, so hopefully this will deter the youths involved from continuing this particular pastime.

     There are loads of other things the Gnomes do to keep our Church                                                         looking as good as we possibly can, keeping gutters on the flat roof                                                                  above the small hall clear, cleared a blocked down pipe of sones and                                                                broken slate that was blocking water from the roof draining away,                                                                applying brick sealant to the sandstone around some of the windows                                                    on the kitchen side of the Sanctuary to slow down erosion that is happening, cleared mould that was apparent high up in the Sanctuary to the right of the stained glass windows, sorting through the clothing bank, bagging loose clothing to maximise the financial return the Church gets from this endeavour. The Gnomes have also realigned slabs on the driveway of the Manse as requested by the Presbytery property convener when the Minister demitted his Charge. There are probably many other incidental things that have slipped my mind. As usual though, it is time to remind everyone that should you wish to come along and join in the “fun” with the Gnomes, you would be more than welcome, Wednesday afternoons from 1pm. Looking forward to seeing you then, otherwise, until the next report TTFN or Ta Ta For Now.                                                                                       Phil Jordan (Junior Gnome).          

Colin

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YOU?

George

Hello,at this time of crisis for our environment,  I wondered if you could use the attached in your Church newsletter to help spread awareness about these now endangered animals & give them a chance of recovery in 2022 & beyond. Thanks for taking the time to read
Best wishes

Philip

Robert

Here are some simple tips to help them.
1. Link your garden with a Hedgehog Highway. Hedgehogs travel between1-2 km a night searching for food and a mate. Leaving a small gap in your fence the size of a CD case will let hedgehogs through but be too small for pets. BHPT/PTES sell snazzy little recyclable Hedgehog Highway signs, for a few pounds. Ask your neighbours to do the same!

2. Create a wild corner in your garden so they can snuffle around for insects.

3. Tidy up netting and litter which can trap hedgehogs due to their spines. Even rubber bands dropped by the postie can become embedded in their skin, causing a slow, painful death.

4. Put out food and water. You can supplement their diet with wet dog or cat food (preferably not fish based). No bread, milk or mealworms, which are all extremely bad for them. For those who are into simple DIY you can make a feeding station to stop other animals having a free supper - details on the BHPS website/YouTube

5. Stop using chemicals especially slug pellets. Hedgehogs are a gardener’s best friend as they eat slugs as well as many other beasties which would otherwise be devouring your prize flowers and vegetables.

Dougie