My break from work has allowed me to join in with wild tots this summer. One of my favourite sessions was our woodland tea party. We made mud cakes and ‘sampled’ teas made and served at our toadstool tables and picnic blankets by our apron wearing tots – because you can’t be a chef without an apron – It felt like we were caught up in a fairy-tale.

I have also added to my festival count also this month - prepping, setting up and helping to run The Trust’s stand at Folk East. The calm atmosphere and music created a great backdrop for natural crafts, my favourite being the natural letters, which gave me a great opportunity to join in on the fun. Jenny and I also represented the trust at Siren Festival in its first year, this community organised event created a great talking point and springboard for action on improving the condition of our oceans.

Two of my favourite events this summer have been the water scorpion hunt in Chantry Park and the wasp spider hunt in Holywells Park. Both events saw families coming together with the common goal of finding the species that we were looking for. Nature really was on our side on both occasions with both the spiders and the water scorpions playing hard to get, until the opportune moment, but still giving time for us to explore for other creatures! It was the interactions between families, and their keenness to share their finds with everyone, that made these events so enjoyable. The sunshine helped a little too.

My last event of August was the Teen Bees and Bee Keeping course run in conjunction with the Friends of Holywells Park beekeepers. I was so excited to don the bee keeping suit and look in the hives. We found the queen in one of the hives, busy laying eggs to maintain the colony over the winter and plenty of worker bees cleaning out and preparing the hive for the winter.

I am now headed into the last month of my internship and looking forward to the change of the seasons!