Actually there was a bit of a warm up towards the end of last year with two courses, one at the Catstrand Arts Centre in New Galloway and the other here at Lamdoughty Farm. We had a day of two halves at the Catstrand lulled into a false sense of security with kind weather in the morning followed after lunch by a Galloway monsoon. Four layers and literally soaked to the skin.
When it came to the course here the gods were obviously thinking of Christmas and gave us a beautiful cold bright day. So we had a happy chatty willow twiddling day making 'fedges', tunnels, domes and arbours, which like the snow had all gone by the morning.
Last week I hit the road to the first school project of 2012, at Maidens down on the coast. Nice ground, sandy and a bit pebbly in places but well drained and no mud. After the obligatory first day of turfing it was up with the arch and on with the 'fedge'. I think it is going to be a bit of an arch year this year, each school design seems to conjure up the opportunity to slip in an arch. These ones are tending towards 'twigwams' with little hide holes in the base.
Today it snowed and the van sat in the yard with it's bundles of willow in white mounds on the roof.
