The summer season at Camas was officially opened last week
with Garden Week, when we welcomed a group down the track to revamp the garden,
and work on various other exciting projects around the Camas buildings.
The first morning awoke to torrents of rain, but Abbi and
her garden crew were not put off and started work in the poly-tunnels –
weeding, watering and willow-weaving a small fence around two of the beds. Some
hardy souls were seen digging trenches out in the downpour, and a few even took
a break from working and braved a dip in the sea in the afternoon.
The weather improved slightly and the gardeners continued to
work hard all week: asparagus was planted (and a beautiful sign painted to put
in its bed) along with leeks (by the lovely ‘leeky ladies’), potatoes and an
extensive selection of herbs. A fancy French drain was dug to keep the rhubarbs
from getting too soggy in the lovely Scottish weather, and more weeding and
raking done all across the garden to keep it looking tip-top.
Elsewhere, a small group continued work on the pavillion
shed, which is being renovated and made fancy for friends and family of Camas
volunteers and residents to stay in during the season. The roof was finished,
the walls touched up, a new floor put down and varnished, and the pavilion shed
is now close to being ready for guests. It’s looking fabulous nestled in its
little corner of the garden.
And these are only a few of the projects the lovely group
worked on – they also built benches for the round house, and even a dry-stone
wall. We had some much appreciated expert help in building a new waterproof
store in the games room, which will be completed next week after the arrival of
some hinges.
The week was finished off, of course, with the Camas
challenge, which saw some beautiful decorative shells, flowers, and
wooden-framed pictures in the common room, a lovely meal of chips and mac n’
cheese, a wonderful reflection whilst sat (on newly built benches!) toasting
marshmallows on the roundhouse fire, and finally some very relaxing evening
entertainment giving each other well-earned shoulder massages in the common
room.
All in all it was a fantastically productive and thoroughly
enjoyable week, with so many different people working super hard to keep the
Camas buildings and garden in an excellent state for the rest of the season. Thank
you very much to everyone who came and who put in so much effort – you keep
Camas going, and it just couldn’t work without you. We hope to see you again
soon!
