30 Days Wild in June - Rainy Day



                                             

It's my birthday today and, as seems to be the case in recent years, the weather has been very windy and wet (with luck the sun shall be shining tomorrow!) So here are a few photos I took over the weekend:

This is the second year we've had flowers on this little strawberry plant and I'm hoping to get a few fruit again.

Cuckoo spit on my mint plant - no mint on our new potatoes for a little while!

This large bed of old fashioned geraniums is very popular with several species of bee (and other insects!).

30 Days Wild in June - Bees and History

We visited the Living History event at the Weald and Downland Living Museum this afternoon, which I have been really looking forward to. 

I hadn't realised what a broad spectrum of history was being covered until, whilst I was having a conversation with a Tudor era servant, a WWII US Army jeep drove past the door of the mediaeval house we were in! Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the Jeep, however here are a couple of the house:



Later on, as we took a break, I noticed that the flower beds by the lake were buzzing with many different bees.

I think the plant is a flowering lemon balm.

30 Days Wild in June - Roses

It's been a gorgeous day today, blue skies and sunshine with a breeze that has taken away the awful humidity of yesterday.

 My wilding today was spent in the garden, enjoying the scent of some beautiful roses and listening to the buzzing bees :)

30 Days Wild in June - Mice

When we dug December's roller skate bag out of our understairs cupboard this afternoon, we discovered that mice had extensively gnawed away about quarter of one of her skating knee pads. Mouse droppings all over the bottom of the bag and no bits of plastic lead us to the conclusion that they really had eaten what they chewed.

Perhaps best described as today's unintentional Random Act of Wildness? 

After some discussion, we decided to buy a humane mouse trap as none of us felt comfortable/up to dealing with squished remains. If we start finding lots more signs of mice we might change our minds, however we first need to give this one a go.

I'll let you know how we get on.

30 Days Wild in June - 2017

I can't quite believe that it's already a year since the last Wildlife Trust 30 Days Wild in June event took place, the 12 months have passed at an alarming rate.

However, given everything currently going on in the world, it will be a very welcome distraction. 

Unfortunately I've been quite unwell and so our garden plans have fallen behind, however we did get June and December's beans (a runner and a french, we think) planted out and are hoping that the slow worms will keep the slugs at bay!

Thoughts from the Shower #12

I've just seen the new Alien film and I was thinking, 'If there'd been a sofa available in the cinema screen, I'd have hidden behind it!' and I'm a veteran of the saga.

The first time I watched 'Alien' was at home, in the lounge, with my Dad. We both started out on the sofa, however around the time Kane bit the dust, I found myself behind the sofa, leaning on it's back and ducking behind for the scariest parts - asking my Dad, 'Is it safe to look?'. Unfortunately for me, he hadn't seen the film before either, so there were a few nasty surprises!

So my thought is - what did people hide behind before sofas?

Is it perhaps that the need to dive behind a sofa for 'protection' from scares/horror is a phenomenon of our smaller screens at home? I mean, has listening to a tale of suspense on the radio ever elicited a similar response?

Dust

Sitting in the garden, gazing at the sky. Noticing tiny specks, dancing in my eye.

Where have they come from? Where do they go? 

Are they little atoms, seeking somewhere to glow?

As the sun fades from the sky, the stars begin to shine - their complex patterns forming constellations for us to ponder and divine.

Where did we come from? Where are we going to?

Are we all made from dust, from when a star expired 
and sent it's energies spiralling across the galaxies so wide?