The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 2005 by Angharad Copyright © 2013 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

The next couple of days were primarily taken up by making a case for the re-siting of the visitor centre, and also the ways that alternative technology could be harnessed to maintain the place.

I’ve asked them to consider tenders for wood-burning stoves to heat the place, for photovoltaic cells on the roof to provide some of the electricity and solar panels to provide hot water. The design I’ve asked to be modified to be triple insulated, so windows and walls will lose very little heat, thus saving on heating in winter and cooling in summer–assuming we ever have another one.

The wood will be provided from coppicing hazel and birch to provide new growth and fuel for the heating. Spare could also be turned into charcoal though some sort of feasibility study on this would be needed including a costing for employed labour as well as work parties by volunteers; it being assumed that as a nature reserve, once people were informed and permitted to come to walk and enjoy nature, some will wish to give something back, so some sort of development officer might become necessary.

I gave an outline plan of how I saw the whole scheme developing with the more academic elements involving the university and the more scientific of the amateurs, and the rest being a facility for educating schools and children’s groups, plus other groups of the general public who wish to learn more about nature, or just bird watch, find fungi or walk their dogs.

Some thought had to be given to security and its costs and provisions, both to the building, its staff and visitors and to the woodland and its inhabitants–striking a balance is one of the hardest things in nature conservation.

The link with both the bank and the university should be kept to a low profile but present as both will have been generous donors, but the priority of the site is for nature conservation not commercial advertising.

The nature of the management and staffing needs to be arranged so as to allow for removal of anyone who is seen to be ineffective or failing to meet the ethos of the site, and a board of trustees needs to be set up to oversee both the management and the scientific aspects of the site. A charter for the trustees would need to be drafted, which would mean ineffective ones of those could also be removed.

While dead wood in a nature reserve can be burned or left for fungi and insects to colonise and feed, dead wood amongst trustees, management or staff will need to be removed.

I was quite beginning to enjoy myself–Genghis Khan had nothing on this girl. I nearly forgot to collect the girls one afternoon and Jacquie had to come and remind me. I was late getting there and the fact that it was raining was pointed out several times on the way home, though I won’t mention any names.

I showed the draft of my paper to Simon who advised me on some of the wording for the management and fiscal side of things, he also suggested that I send a copy to our legal friend for any advice he might offer. When I pointed out it would cost, he reminded me that I was working for the bank, and therefore entitled to use the legal team to check a paper being presented to the board. I also showed a copy to Tom but he was diffident about it, saying he wasn’t qualified to comment. I assumed he meant because I considered he wasn’t qualified to plan the centre.

I didn’t need his negativity over the scheme and once I’d presented the paper, I’d try and bring him on board–we needed resolution–I couldn’t cope with this sense of an elephant in the room all the time, and him avoiding me. Why should he–it’s his house after all.

That night after I’d sent off the draft by email to Jason to comment on the legal aspects, I made a pot of coffee and pouring two mugs of it, I went down to Daddy’s study.

“Daddy, I need to resolve this business of the visitor centre with you, because it’s eating away at our relationship. I don’t want to argue about it. We came to different conclusions about it, which as scientists and adults we’re entitled to do. I think we need to let it go and concentrate on repairing us–our relationship which is very important to me, to Si and the children. We need to be able to love you and respect you and you pushing me away is being noticed by the children. They want their grandfather back.”

He sipped his coffee. “’S guid coffee,” he said and sipped some more. He paused and then sipped some more. “I made a mistake, I’m sorry. I shud hae involved ye in thae plan.”

“Okay, I appreciate you saying that. I apologise to you for being a bit over assertive in pointing out the flaws in the original plan. I just got so cross that the original survey was done by the tooth fairy or someone with similar qualifications and was just so wrong from an ecological point of view that I went overboard on you. I’m sorry, Daddy, please forgive me.”

“I think it’s ye whae’ve tae forgive me.”

I gave him a hug, sniffed a bit to try and stop the tears flowing but it didn’t work, and I wept in his arms for several minutes. I didn’t like being bad friends with any of my loved ones and recently I’d managed it with both Tom and Simon. So maybe I was at fault.

Once I’d calmed down, I went to see Simon and sort out relationship number two.

“Si, can we talk?”

He looked up over the top of his newspaper. “Sure–what about?”

“Us.”

“Us? Like as in you and me?”

I nodded.

He looked mystified. “Shoot,” he said inviting me to sit beside him.

“The other night, I was out of line–I’m sorry.”

“I thought we’d done that.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to sort it out.”

“No–we sorted it.”

“When?”

“It just died a death–haven’t you noticed I’m back to my sweet self?”

I was tempted to say no just to see what happened, but I lost my nerve and nodded, it was safer to keep my treacherous mouth shut for the moment.

“Besides, if I was still angry with you I’d hardly have looked at your plan would I?”

I shrugged, “I suppose not,” I could have argued that he would because it was bank stuff, but chose not to.

“So there’s no problem is there?”

“I suppose not.”

“Good, let’s go to bed and sleep on it–after you know what.”

“I know what–what?” I played thick.

He rolled his eyes, “Some biologist you are if you don’t know about the birds and the bees.”

“Obviously–perhaps you need to teach me?”

“You’re the teacher, but just this once I’ll do the teaching–it’s a practical session so you might need to prepare for it.”

“What protective clothing and equipment, d’you mean?”

“Cathy, stop taking the piss and get upstairs and gerrem off.”

Sometimes he can be so commanding–and sometimes he looks a bigger twit than usual. I didn’t tell him this, I just trotted upstairs giggling–well we were reverting to stereotypes for the session weren’t we?