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Every year the holiday clubs come to an end, and every year we claim they are our best ever! This summer was no different – with record numbers attending, young and old, tall and small; we have just finished three weeks of day trips to wild places all around the Lothians and Fife. Buses, trains and boats took us to ancient woodlands, golden beaches, rocky rivers and mysterious islands all waiting to be explored. Every day held surprises…. rock pools teeming with life, seas and shores full of jellyfish, fish and strange creatures lurking in rivers, butterflies, moths and bees in meadows and woodland glades, minibeasts hiding under stones and logs in the shade of ancient trees, wildflowers glowing and buzzing in the sun, bats flitting around our heads at dusk. Swimming in the sea, racing rafts down the rivers, skimming stones over the water, roasting marshmallows on the fires, climbing trees, clambering over rocks…. the list is endless! Wet or dry, hot or cold, clean or muddy, sleepy or buzzing, everyone had fun.

Of course what always make the clubs special are the children who join us, never failing to make us laugh and amaze us with their ability to get very wet in a tiny amount of water. Our clubs are as much about friends as they are wildlife and exploring, whether making new friends or meeting up with old ones. Already we’re looking forward to next year when we can see everyone again and the big Earth Calling family will be reunited!

In the meantime be sure to check out the gallery where we have over 200 photos!

We had the pleasure of teaching the P5s at Blackhall Primary the other week about minibeasts. Towards the end of our teaching session we got the kids to express their creative side by making some minibeast woodland art. The kids of P5, using only natural materials, created an image of their favourite minibeast for us to take photos of.

We were all extremely impressed by their work and look forward to seeing them again in P6 after the summer.

It’s that time of year again when the highly fragrant elderflower are in bloom. One of the nicest things you can make with this flower, is the highly popular Elderflower Cordial. This tasty summer drink is easy to make and requires very little time to prepare and make. Below is a recipe we have used in order to make a fantastic batch of this cordial.

Ingredients:

20 Elderflower ‘heads’

1.5kg Sugar

1.2 litres Water

70g Citric Acid (you can get this from a home-brew store)

1 Lemon (Sliced)

Recipe:

1. Gently shake the elderflowers you collected to expel any bugs or spiders (don’t worry too much if you can’t get all)

2. Place the elderflowers, citric acid and sliced lemon in a large bowl (enough to hold about 1.5 litres of water)

3. Put water and sugar in a pot and bring to the boil. Once the sugar has dissolved remove from heat.

4. Pour boiled water into bowl with elderflowers.

5. Cover bowl with a tea towel and leave to sit for 24hrs.

6. Using a muslin or a tea towel, filter out the elderflowers and debris and pour into a bottle.

When serving, dilute 1 part elderflower cordial and 5 parts water or sparkling water and serve cold. Elderflower cordial should keep for a while but to store for long periods of time (several months or more) store cordial in a freezer.