It's been days since I heard the Swifts. July was washed away in a week of heavy showers, and the rain seems to have rinsed the cloud-cutters from the sky. Perhaps they have left us already; they are after all the first summer migrants to head south to their winter quarters. It does seem odd …
Continue reading "SFN Journal – Autumn Almanac: The Snail Bone-Yard"
July 16th 2017 - Silence of the birds The weather has been hot, close and suppressive. I have taken to retreating to the cool shade of the woods when out for a lunch-break walk. Luckily the plant nursery where I work is bordered by woodland, filled with a myriad of textures and colours and illuminated …
Continue reading "SFN Journal – Autumn Almanac: Silence of the Birds"
July 7th 2017 - Nature never holds still for long The TV tennis coverage is proving intense, but beyond the kitchen door the balcony is dappled with shade by the soft weeps of the birch whose triangular leaves always remind me of bunting in the summer breeze. Now and then a formation of swifts cuts …
Continue reading "SFN Journal – Autumn Almanac: Nature never holds still for long"
Introduction – the turning year When planning some writing, there is nothing worse than sitting down to start a project, and staring at a blank white page! It can really stifle the creative thought process. Thankfully, today my page is far from blank. My inspiration has travelled forward with me thirteen years, from the days …
#30DaysWild - June 26th-29th Monday Magic - I met this tree at the edge of the woods. I had to look  sort of sideways at it because of the glare of the sun. It towers, twists, and keeps its secrets of who else has passed beneath its crooked limbs. Tuesday Treasure - I found …
Continue reading "#30DaysWild: Magic trees and poppies in the breeze"
This past week since my last #30DaysWild blog post, the intensity of my participation in the activity has been somewhat reduced. 20th-22nd June experienced the peak of a heatwave, with temperatures reaching over 30*c; too hot for nature, too hot for me. It was hard to summon the energy to look beyond the next cold …
What a week it has been! over the last few days, temperatures have crept upwards, nudging over 30*C at their peak. The forecasters are predicting high 20's for the foreseeable future - a flaming June indeed! I have been continuing with my #30DaysWild efforts, and it is high time I caught up with sharing my …
Saturday 10th June "If you go down to the woods today..." Of course, picnics are not just for teddy bears. A picnic is possibly my favourite thing to do in nature, whether it's fish and chips on the beach, a pasty in the park, or cheese and pickle sandwiches in a woodland clearing. Every …
It has been a quiet couple of days. Yesterday was a fairly normal day at work, whilst Fridays are my Saturday (I work on Sundays) so this morning called for a relaxing breakfast followed by a session of writing and blog preparation for later in the month. It has been a couple of days where …
Days 5 and 6 of #30DaysWild have been a mixed up, muddled up, jumble of moments. Both days have been a cocktail of sun and rain; heavy rain that pelted the skylight in the living-room roof and angered the roadside ditches until they were swollen and swirling, and blinding brilliance of sun magnified through a …
Continue reading "#30DaysWild – of rescues, raindrops and rhymes"
Sussex Field Notes 