Category Archives: Videos

This shouldn’t be unusual but it is

Charity, English language posts, Fundraiser, Life in Slovenia, Slovenia, Slovenian language posts, Videos, Vojnik

WARNING: shocking content. This video contains parents and teachers working together – happily and voluntarily! Look at us, putting the FUN into our school FUNd.

So what exactly is a school fund?
Basically, it’s a Slovenian-flavoured version of a parent–teacher association. PTA, rings a bell?

At a time when it often feels like everybody is being pulled in opposite directions, PTAs have huge potential. They can showcase positive collaboration between parents, teachers, children and the wider community.

In our town of Vojnik, Slovenia, we decided to tap into that potential and do as much good as we can. We’re all volunteers, by the way – we chose to put our time, skill and energy into this.

We raise funds to support vulnerable students and to finance high-quality teaching equipment and projects that help make school an experience students will remember fondly.

Along the way, we also help create what are often called “third spaces” – places and projects where people can meet, connect, make friends, use their talents and contribute to the common good, regardless of whether they have lots of money or none at all.

This time, we are bringing you singing, laughter and dancing: a charity concert featuring an incredible 273 musicians and dancers. If you’re in Slovenia this February, make sure you don’t miss it: https://www.facebook.com/events/1195118282227222

Thank you so much for supporting us – please like, share, donate and help us keep the ball rolling!

https://www.facebook.com/SSOSVojnik

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Šolski sklad OŠ Vojnik je čudovita mala organizacija, v kateri sodelujejo starši učencev in zaposleni šole. Pripravlja zanimive dogodke ter zbira sredstva za pomoč ranljivim družinam in nakup nadstandardne šolske opreme. https://www.facebook.com/SSOSVojnik

Tokrat pripravljamo petje, smeh in ples: dobrodelni koncert s kar 273 glasbeniki in plesalci🤩

Nastopajo: Alya, Firbci, Klateži, Barabini, Guštni muzikantje, Nina Lampret, Ansambel Vrabci, Isaac Palma, Ansambel Utrip, Vražji muzikanti, Laura Pesjak – Lauri, Ansambel Vihar, Ansambel Naval, plesni skupini Hype in Smaragd ter pevski zbori in plesalci OŠ Vojnik🎵💃

Kdaj in kje: v nedeljo, 1. februarja 2026, ob 17.00 v telovadnici OŠ Vojnik🏫

Organizator: šolski sklad OŠ Vojnik s prijazno podporo šole, učencev, občine, podjetnikov in občanov. Skupaj zmoremo vse🙌

Vstopnine ni, se pa toplo priporočamo in zahvaljujemo za dobrodelni prispevek v višini vsaj 10 EUR💓

Povezava na dogodek: https://www.facebook.com/events/1195118282227222

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The Reality of Wildlife Ponding

Animals, English language posts, Insectlife, Insects, Life in Slovenia, Natural ponds, Neanderslavia, Ponding, Slovenia, Slovenian language posts, Videos, Vojnik, Wetlands, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My wildlife pond needed a little dredging, which is a task normally done after draining the water first.

But I didn’t want to disturb the pond’s countless tiny inhabitants any more than strictly necessary, so I decided to skip the draining. Instead, my shovel and I waited for a dry spell when the water level dropped, and we ventured in knee-deep.

My shovel & I are happy to report that manual wet dredging is perfectly doable. In fact, it’s a delightful workout, as long as you maintain perfect posture and lift with your thighs at all times.

Because if you don’t, you’re gonna throw out your back, which is really not something you want happening while you’re standing in a perfectly drownable body of water.

Also, go find out what your pelvic floor is and be mindful of it when you’re shovelling wet pond muck.

Oh and if you’re going to do this, you probably shouldn’t fear your pond creatures too much.

The thing is, ponding is definitely not like any regular gardening and when suspicious-looking critters end up on your shovel, you’re gonna have to gently pick them up and return them to the water.

Because a pond creature is not a bug but a feature💜

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Če se na dnu ribnika nabere preveč mulja, se to običajno rešuje tako, da najprej iz ribnika izpustimo vodo, nato pa vanj spustimo bager.

A kakšen bager neki – tega bom morda imela nekoč nekega dne, ko bom velika. Meni niti ideja praznjenja ni bila kaj prida všeč.

Moj mladi ribniček je namreč vzelo za svojega nešteto malih bitjec, ki sem jih hotela obvarovati pred čisto prehudimi pretresi. Zato sem počakala na malce suše, da je vodostaj upadel, in zabredla do kolen.

No, jaz in moja lopata radostno potrjujeva, da je tudi »ročno mokro čiščenje« ribnika povsem izvedljivo. V bistvu je odlična telovadba, če lepo paziš na držo in pridno dvigaš s stegenskimi mišicami.

Sicer si lahko izpahneš križ, kar zna biti izrazito neposrečena ideja, ko stojiš sredi vode.

Koristen nasvet je tudi to, da pri dvigovanju pazi, kaj dela tvoje medenično dno, in tvoje telo hvaležno ti bo.

In pa še nekaj je treba vedeti. Ko vihtiš lopato po ribniku, hočeš-nočeš izbezaš na plano prenekaterega ribniškega prebivalca. In ker velik delež ribniškega življa obstaja v razponu od rahlo strašljivega do naravnost grozljivega, je obvladovanje strahu skorajda nujna veščina za uspešno ribnikarjenje. Pri naravnem ribnikarjenju namreč ne preganjamo raznih malih žverk, temveč jih nežno poberemo z lopate ter previdno vrnemo v vodo. Ne le, da so drobne vodne pošasti bistven del ribnikove naravne lepote, ampak so tudi izrazito dobrodošle zaveznice💜, saj pojedo vse komarje

An Extreme Form of Gardening

English language posts, Life in Slovenia, Natural ponds, Neanderslavia, Ponding, Slovenia, Slovenian language posts, True Stories, Videos, Vojnik, Wetlands, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you want to make a huge difference to countless millions of lives, you absolutely can.

All you have to do is create a wildlife pond. It doesn’t have to be big. A micro pond in a bucket can mean the world to tiny lives looking for a place to do their thing.

A wildlife pond doesn’t have to take much money. It does take a whole lot of time but that’s mostly because you’ll be spending hours upon hours marveling at your creation.

The amount of joy you’ll get in return is tremendous. If you’re not careful, you’ll also get backache – but if you do, you’ll know it was totally worth it.

Ponds are like fingerprints – each one is unique. Mine is a young retention pond on a sunny terrace. And it is prone to drama, as it befits a fledgling body of water. At the filming of this video, I was dealing with a charming but unruly guest who’s overstayed its welcome, for more than one reason. I can still hear the delicious crunch it makes when you rip it from the pond bottom. Good times!  

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Ribniki so kot prstni odtisi – vsak je drugačen!

Skupno jim je to, da v njih najdejo zatočišče premnoga drobna življenjca, ki se najraje kar sama povabijo. Pa tudi kakšno malce večje se najde med njimi.

In potem tam živijo, se lovijo in množijo, za obilo presenečenj poskrbijo in skrbnega opazovalca marsičesa naučijo. Lastniki v ribnikih najdemo srečo, pa tudi precej dela. V ribniku in okolici se zmeraj kaj dogaja 😅

The friend who fell from the skies

Animals, English language posts, European Hornet, Insectlife, Insects, Life in Slovenia, Neanderslavia, Slovenia, Videos, Vojnik, Wetlands, Zhuzhana the Hornet, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One fateful Saturday, a pair of sky warriors crashed to the ground, locked in battle.

They say every fight you can walk away from is a good fight. I guess that means our new friend had a good one indeed.

Her opponent, however, flew off. Because this is what victorious hornets do, after successfully shredding their rival’s wings.

So there she was – bruised and battered and suddenly pedestrian.

Under any ordinary circumstances, this would have meant she would be torn apart, limb by limb, by an army of gleeful ants. Unless she were lucky and a hungry bird got to her first.

But these were no ordinary circumstances. Because the turf on which she landed was ours.

She may have lost the duel but she won our love, along with a life-time supply of sugar water.

Zhuzhana, as we named her, was born a worker. But she ended up living like a queen.

#hornet #europeanhornet #Vespacrabro #pethornet #rescuedhornet #injuredhornet #rescue #feedinghornet #handfeeding #insectfeeding #insectrescue #insectlife #petinsect #zhuzhana #srsen #wetlands #vojnik #slovenia #neanderslavia

The Snail

Animals, English language posts, Life in Slovenia, Neanderslavia, Videos, Vojnik, Wetlands, , , , , , , ,
  • Garden snails are native to the Mediterranean
  • But they’ve travelled as far as California and Australia
  • (People being followed by snails is a real thing.)
  • Growing snails on purpose is called heliciculture
  • Growing them by accident is called good biodiversity
  • If snails threaten your garden, make it firefly-friendly
  • Because fireflies eat snails and slugs
  • So do frogs, lizards and birds
  • Or you can eat the snails yourself
  • They’re a good source of protein – and parasitic worms
  • I prefer biodiversity to gastronomy, but you do you

Catch of the day: an elderly snail

Animals, English language posts, Life in Slovenia, Neanderslavia, Slovenia, Videos, Wetlands, , , , , , , ,

When two garden snails really like each other, they show it by mutual stabbing. They’re equipped with special love darts for this very purpose – they’re hermaphrodites and their love dueling, which goes on for hours, is how they exchange seed.
Throughout history, garden snails have loved hitching a ride with humans and this is how they’ve managed to reach some of the farthest corners of the Earth. They’re cute in their own right but their appetite can spell disaster for crops in areas where their natural predators are scarce. Good biodiversity is your friend – frogs, birds, lizards and many bugs will happily keep snails in check for you.
But if all else fails, you can always scare garden snails away with coffee grounds – they seriously dislike coffee. That’s probably for the best because the idea of fast-moving, twitchy snails is borderline disturbing.

A baby beetle

Animals, English language posts, Life in Slovenia, Natural ponds, Ponding, Slovenia, Videos, Wetlands, , , , , , , ,

On this earth, there are 300 pounds of insects for every pound of human flesh. They fly, they dig, they swim, they bite and sting and spray. And they can make more babies in their lifetime than the whole of humanity ever has. We’re outmaneuvered, outgunned, outnumbered and sometimes outsmarted too. Just something to keep in mind 🙂

Possibly, nah definitely a leech

Animals, English language posts, Life in Slovenia, Natural ponds, Ponding, Slovenia, Videos, Vojnik, Wetlands, , , , ,

One of the best things about creating a wildlife pond is watching new critters move in. This spry little slinkie – unfairly known, as I’ve learned, as the horse leech – has managed to find my magic little lake. And quite possibly, my new friend is exactly what these waters needed… because right now, they’re ruled by voracious dragonfly larvae who could use a good old-fashioned fear of God put into them… Dragonflies can murder their way through a sizeable batch of tadpoles in a disturbingly short time – a relatively well-known fact in the ponding world. But they will also actively stalk small fish, which is much less known about them. Supposedly, horse leeches hunt dragonfly larvae, so maybe nature will balance itself out.