Hello people!
Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I had internet trouble and had to reboot the whole thing.
Anyway, I'm here now and I've got BIG news!
I have work experience next week for two weeks (from the 4th of August)! It's so great. I also have NCS for the rest of August and every Sunday in September. I also have Code club (I'll talk about it in a later blog) every Saturday in September- so I have no free time.
Still, I'm really happy about this and I'll be doing daily blogs when I start next week so keep posted for that.
Love you guys.
Bye People
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Summer Volunteering: Deen City Farm
Hello people!
Firstly, I think we just need to take some time to appreciate that Deen is also my surname. I have a farm named after me! (sort of... not really).
Anyway, my time at Deen City Farm is so far the best volunteering experience that I have had. It was a very rounded experience due to the wide range of types of animals that I worked with. I worked in the 'lifestock' section. This also includes small pets, birds, etc... as well as convential lifestock (such as sheep and goats).
I volunteered there every Saturday over summer 2013 working 7 hour days. This amounted to 91 hours over 13 days and I loved every second.
Work consisted of mucking out and cleaning cages, stalls, etc; checking for eggs; handeling and giving talks about animals; taking animals to events (e.g. birthday parties); feeding animals; walking cows to their field and back; and 'walking' ducks between two ponds. We would also occasionally walk ferrets, rabbits, sheep, and chickens. We would also help in fundraising activities. Running around doing odd-jobs was also the norm.
My favourite day was the harvest festival on my second-to-last day. It was sooo fun! We each got to take out and walk an animal of our choice in the 'harvest parade'. After a few laps around the area, we got to stop and just hang out with the animals and the many visitors (talking about animals, of course). There were also many different people coming in to help or sell things during the festival, so there was a lot to see. This day was like a half-day off (we had to help set up and take care of animals in the morning). I loved it! There were lots of interesting people around. For example, there was a carpenter that talked to us for ages about carpenting. He even agreed to make a little mushroom for each of us to keep. There were also two lovely old ladys that taught us some basic kniting! (It was more fun than it sounds).
I made many new friends at DCF and not all of them were human. I loved the animals there so much and it was fun to be able to stroke them and just generaly be with them every day. I feel that the number of animals can only be conveyed in a list.
Well... here goes: there was a herd of sheep, many were young lambs; three cows (a forth was born this year); a goat herd- my favourite goat was Kane, he was the only male and was kept to 'make babies'; three young pigs (only two adult pigs this year); an alpaca (she lives with the goats after her partner died- she liked goats way better than other alpacas anyway); two rats (they had babies last year that got sold); five ferrets; Edna the barn owl; countless chickens of different breeds; two turkeys; a corn snake whose name I can never remember; a male python named Princess; 'visitor' owls that only came for two weeks; two bearded dragons that didn't stay for long either; three giant rabbits; many smaller rabbits; many guinea pigs; many types of small birds that live in a shared cage; and ducks- lots of ducks. Oh... and I can't forget the farm cats that would turn up in the early mornings and disappear for the rest of the day.
...I think I got them all, right?...
Working at DCF required high levels of teamwork and communication. Both of these skills where developed according to the situation. Using innitiave was also very important- as important as obeying orders. Social skills were constantely required when speacking to visitors, especially children. We also needed good memory and communication skills when giving visitors information about animals and answering questions.
Life at Deen City Farm was never dull and was such a great social and educational experience that I would recommend it to anyone! I love you DCF!
P.S. For anyone interested, there is also a 'stable' and 'gardening' section that you can choose to work in. I worked in 'lifestock'.
P.P.S. Lifestock is the best!
P.P.S.S. Click here for pictures
Thanks for reading
Love you all!
Firstly, I think we just need to take some time to appreciate that Deen is also my surname. I have a farm named after me! (sort of... not really).
Anyway, my time at Deen City Farm is so far the best volunteering experience that I have had. It was a very rounded experience due to the wide range of types of animals that I worked with. I worked in the 'lifestock' section. This also includes small pets, birds, etc... as well as convential lifestock (such as sheep and goats).
I volunteered there every Saturday over summer 2013 working 7 hour days. This amounted to 91 hours over 13 days and I loved every second.
Work consisted of mucking out and cleaning cages, stalls, etc; checking for eggs; handeling and giving talks about animals; taking animals to events (e.g. birthday parties); feeding animals; walking cows to their field and back; and 'walking' ducks between two ponds. We would also occasionally walk ferrets, rabbits, sheep, and chickens. We would also help in fundraising activities. Running around doing odd-jobs was also the norm.
My favourite day was the harvest festival on my second-to-last day. It was sooo fun! We each got to take out and walk an animal of our choice in the 'harvest parade'. After a few laps around the area, we got to stop and just hang out with the animals and the many visitors (talking about animals, of course). There were also many different people coming in to help or sell things during the festival, so there was a lot to see. This day was like a half-day off (we had to help set up and take care of animals in the morning). I loved it! There were lots of interesting people around. For example, there was a carpenter that talked to us for ages about carpenting. He even agreed to make a little mushroom for each of us to keep. There were also two lovely old ladys that taught us some basic kniting! (It was more fun than it sounds).
I made many new friends at DCF and not all of them were human. I loved the animals there so much and it was fun to be able to stroke them and just generaly be with them every day. I feel that the number of animals can only be conveyed in a list.
Well... here goes: there was a herd of sheep, many were young lambs; three cows (a forth was born this year); a goat herd- my favourite goat was Kane, he was the only male and was kept to 'make babies'; three young pigs (only two adult pigs this year); an alpaca (she lives with the goats after her partner died- she liked goats way better than other alpacas anyway); two rats (they had babies last year that got sold); five ferrets; Edna the barn owl; countless chickens of different breeds; two turkeys; a corn snake whose name I can never remember; a male python named Princess; 'visitor' owls that only came for two weeks; two bearded dragons that didn't stay for long either; three giant rabbits; many smaller rabbits; many guinea pigs; many types of small birds that live in a shared cage; and ducks- lots of ducks. Oh... and I can't forget the farm cats that would turn up in the early mornings and disappear for the rest of the day.
...I think I got them all, right?...
Working at DCF required high levels of teamwork and communication. Both of these skills where developed according to the situation. Using innitiave was also very important- as important as obeying orders. Social skills were constantely required when speacking to visitors, especially children. We also needed good memory and communication skills when giving visitors information about animals and answering questions.
Life at Deen City Farm was never dull and was such a great social and educational experience that I would recommend it to anyone! I love you DCF!
P.S. For anyone interested, there is also a 'stable' and 'gardening' section that you can choose to work in. I worked in 'lifestock'.
P.P.S. Lifestock is the best!
P.P.S.S. Click here for pictures
Thanks for reading
Love you all!
Deen City Farm photos
Hello people!
Here are my photos from Deen City Farm.
Just so you know, these photos were taken recently (29th June) so I wasn't allowed to go into the cages, fields, etc because i'm not a volunteer anymore.
Enjoy!
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Here are my photos from Deen City Farm.
Just so you know, these photos were taken recently (29th June) so I wasn't allowed to go into the cages, fields, etc because i'm not a volunteer anymore.
Enjoy!
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