sometime back, we picked up a new hose as the old one had sprung a leak…
we ended up with a different type… not an expanding one…
I have used it and discovered that it didn’t work for me… it was 100 feet long, like the old one, but it seemed to kink more and the water flow seemed to come and go…
I’ve been sharing my complaint about it for weeks, so finally, we picked up the type I’d had before;-)…
it isn’t exactly the same as the old one, but is much better and lighter than the one I’ve been using…
now it is much more fun to water the plants and grass;-)…
once orientation was completed, I signed up for my first of three (3 hour) different sessions…
the first session consisted of a tour of the zoo with a more senior volunteer and two other newbies… everyone we met was so helpful and provided us with lots of information…
I hadn’t been to the zoo for a while so it was a lovely refresher… the zoo is a very busy place…
and I left with my volunteer t-shirt;-)…
the next session was with a mentor, usually one-on-one, but it ended up with two newbies with our mentor… they know so much about all the goings on at the zoo, and were happy to share with us…
part of our training included time at the McFeeter’s Heavy Horse Centre… we got to watch the new Shire horses, Willow and Willy, move from the barn to the paddock…
I must say, by the end of our three hour shift, my feet were a tad sore, lol…
my last and final session was at The Leaf… the first half was touring the space and learning a few new things… one exciting thing was getting to walk out on the second floor balcony that overlooks the Tropical Biome…
it is reserved for those who rent the various spaces on that floor… and, that the floor on that level is sprinkled with the glass from the old Conservatory;-)…
then we practised in three different areas…
I learned that there are a few places between the zoo and The Leaf that have to have someone in attendance at all times…
so, if no volunteers are available, a staff member has to take over… it is clear that volunteers save time so staff members can focus on their important work…
I have now finished my first two shifts as a bonafide Volunteer Ambassador…
say hi if you spot me… most likely at The Leaf for now…
excited this morning to spot the strawberry that was ripe enough to eat… and pleased that the birds and/or squirrels hadn’t beaten me to it…
I did paint those rocks red and put them around the plant to discourage thieves, lol… maybe they worked…
the strawberry was delicious;-)…
this plant was purchased two years ago and lives in a pot over the summer…in the fall it is transplanted back into the bathtub garden to overwinter;-)…
for quite some time my family have been encouraging me to volunteer at The Leaf…
I considered it and eventually decided to apply… the application process begins in March and starts with an online form… I still find it difficult to talk about my qualities…
after a few weeks I was invited to register for an in-person meeting, which I did… I got a message two days before the actual meeting time saying they were expecting me that morning, about 40 minutes from when the email arrived… yikes… thankfully I called and was told the email was an error and my appointment was when I expected… took a few moments for my heart to settle down, lol…
I arrived for the meeting right on time and had a lovely half hour with a volunteer who shared information and also asked a few questions… it was interesting to learn about some of the opportunities that are available…
next was an email with four modules to review and then register for an in-person orientation…
the four online modules were informative and straightforward and once they were completed, I signed up for a three-hour orientation to take place somewhere at APC…
the first one was cancelled due to illness, so I ended up at one a few weeks later… we met in one of the zoo camp classrooms…
there were twenty of us in the class and we learned together in small and large groups… it was a great opportunity to meet with others who wanted to help out as volunteers…
after nine more hours of training, I will be an APC volunteer…
this morning I finally got around to sorting out a working pump for the bathtub pond…
I had switched the two pumps between the main pond and the bathtub, but not long after that change the pump in the tub stopped working completely…
and because there are no fish in that pond, the chance of mosquito larvae growing in it was a problem…
happily, the first extra pump I came across worked, although it didn’t have a piece extending out of the water… luckily that doesn’t matter as the water just needs to move to ensure no larvae can survive…
the one on the deck worried me for a while because all the flowers appeared to die off at once… I was concerned that all the rain was too much for it, but now it has begun to bloom again, yay…
the one in the driveway opened its first bloom nearly a week ago, and now there are many more buds opening;-)…
I think I need to train it a bit better so that it stays closer to the trellis…
herbiggirlpants 