The Magic of May at Ducks Paddle

May started very busy as I was working the local elections. This is something I do every time elections roll around, the work is fun and interesting and the money is always helpful. I do love a bit of politics. On the day I was Presiding Officer at the Polling Station in Rackenford. This village is around 7 miles from Ducks Paddle and has a community run village shop www.rackenford-devon.co.uk/shop which was my office for the very long polling day. The shop is brilliant and I recommend a Thursday morning visit so that you can catch the lovely Abu on his shift. He moved to this picture perfect North Devon village after a starring role on Escape to the Country and actually bought the mystery house! Also worth checking out are the restored village well and the beautiful church which has parts dating back to the 13th century.
The following day I was working in Tiverton at the election count. This is always fun and I met some great people. If you fancy getting involved then just contact the election services dept of your local council and get your name on the staffing list. It is so interesting seeing how our voting system works. 

We are continuing to tidy up the camping field and are now on signage. The water is all fixed now so we have a wash up station, stand pipe tap and for the very adventurous a cold outside shower.

The gardens are now coming into their springtime glory and I have been weeding and weeding. We have sampled the first strawberries from the polytunnel and have lettuce and salad leaves  every day now.  My geraniums overwintered successfully and are adding colour to the potting shed area. Bees and bugs are making themselves busy on the blossom and birds are constantly feeding as they raise chicks. We had a good sighting of a pair of Tawny owls a couple of days ago as they woke up and dropped from the large fir tree in the copse, swooping over the camping field. I was actually out looking at the bats which leads me on to the 2025 Devon Wildlife Trust Bat Survey. We are signed up for the 3rd year and have the equipment booked for September. Once results are in we will upload them to the website.

What is happening in your gardens? Let me know

​Sharon x