[One from the archives: This blog was originally posted Saturday 16th August 2014 on sophiecosussex.blogspot.com/ inspired by visit to Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London] Garden of Delight Above, the roar of yet another passenger plane across the cloud-broken sky, but even as it passes directly overhead, it doesn't quite manage to drown out the hesitant high …
Lammastide
August 1st. I walked to work today, taking a route across the common to avoid the busy main roads. I felt the need to spend some time in nature, as thought it were trying to catch my attention over something important I had near forgotten. As my steps dropped into a rhythm of root rock …
A poem for the end of July
Yesterday when I arrived at the allotment to check on things after work, a carpet of yellowed leaves coated the ground beneath my car wheels where I park. Just inside the gate, the wood of its topmost bar warmed to the touch by low sun, shards of cobnuts littered the sparse grass. Showers have recently …
One From the Archives: July is a Month Made for Gardens
Originally published: Historic Gardens Weekend, Weald and Downland Open Air Museum (Singleton, West Sussex, South Downs National Park - www.wealddown.co.uk) Sunday 5th July 2015. July is a month made for gardens. For visiting open gardens with a notebook and borrowing their ideas, or peering over fences into neighbours gardens to compare competitive favourites, or allowing yourself a …
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A Nature ‘How To’: Have a WILD Summer holiday (ideas for families, or engaging your own inner child!)
Hooray! School is out for summer! With long weeks ahead of unlimited adventure, there is so much opportunity for connecting with nature and having a WILD Summer holiday. The average summer break is 6 weeks, that’s 42 days, So I have put together a list of 42 inspiring ideas, for ways to re-wild your (inner)child! …
A Nature ‘How To’: Heatwave Help
‘Flaming June’ is certainly living up to its nickname this year. In Sussex it seems as though the sun came out for the May bank holiday weekend, and never left. Much of the UK is basking under temperatures high into the 20s, a stark contrast to the cold and wet weather that dominated earlier in …
What to Look for in Nature – June
What to Look for in Nature – June Welcome to Summer! Not only does June include Midsummer’s Day, the point of the year when day-length is at its longest, but is also the peak time for wildlife activity. Across the country, wildflowers are blooming, insects are buzzing, birds are nesting and young animals are growing …
The Great British BBQ
The Great British BBQ – fuelled by Bronze Age burners, butterflies and bramble-bashing. There is very little that shouts ‘British’ more than a damp bbq on a rainy bank holiday Monday. Across the country this weekend people will be partaking in two of the nations favourite activities: commenting on the weather, and cooking over charcoal. …
SFN Journal – Autumn Almanac: A Sweet Utterance
I have finally seen the bullfinches. All summer long I have heard their whistles from the long hedge that runs parallel to one of the glasshouses (of the plant nursery where I work) but they have remained elusive and disembodied. Today a movement in the bushes attracted my attention as I headed out on my …
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SFN Journal – Autumn Almanac: The Snail Bone-Yard
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 …
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