Category: Nature

Garden · Inspiration · Nature

Hidden Gems

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Hidden in the winter soil.

This Sedum, a gift,  from my parents’ garden.

Perhaps it hasn’t survived, I thought. Then, this.

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Sedum after the rain

Worth the wait!

So if a gardener can wait, patiently, for the gems hidden below the surface to emerge, can a writer too? Is the preparation and maintenance work the same for the gardener as for the writer?

Words don’t come from nowhere. As a friend of mine, Rae Cowie, writes in her blog, you have to ‘fill the creative well‘.

Water and nourish to flourish with books, discussion, observation, experiences, emotions and, of course, time.

There’s more to this writing lark than sitting at a desk so I’m off out – and then, I’ll be back!

Wishing you all a lovely week and the best of luck in finding your own ‘hidden gems’.

 

 

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Hellebores in flower

 

bees · Flowers · Garden · Inspiration · Nature

Enjoying the Sunshine

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When I started this blog I was determined it wouldn’t always be about sunshine. I would not only focus on the bright side but try to be realistic. After all, there have been dark days, there are dark days and there will be dark days.

I’ve written weekly over this past winter and scrolling back through the posts I see mostly sunshine.

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Tulip – opening up for the sun

As I write this, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and spring has definitely arrived.It is hard on a day like this to think of the darkness, to admit it exists or to let it in.

Earlier, as I was hanging out the washing, this giant bee appeared.

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Busy Bee!

 

 

 

 

Watching it, so busy, tumbling and bumbling over the bright orange petals I couldn’t help but be enchanted and inspired. What a work ethic!

I’ve mentioned before that this blog is a great place to put all the photos I take of the flowers in our garden. The things is, they look brighter, clearer in the sunshine. This means at odd moments I’ll find myself running out to take a picture while the sun is on the bloom.

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Standing, kneeling, sitting, to find the right angle I am taking a moment to myself. Appreciating nature and its ever-changing beauty because after all, everything changes, including the dark to the light.

 

 

 

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Daffodils – it has to be – Wordsworth!

 

I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Flowers · Inspiration · Nature

Balancing Life

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thumb_IMG_8729_1024Have you ever had the experience where all of a sudden your attention is drawn to something more than once over a short period of time?

When this happens it makes me sit up and take notice.

Recently while attending the Flourish workshops with Elaine Reid, I was introduced to the Five Ways to Better Wellbeing by the New Economics Forum then, flicking through a magazine for teachers I saw this:thumb_IMG_8739_1024

 

I think I’ve found another explanation for why this blog is ‘a little about a lot’, it’s because that’s life. It isn’t just one thing, it’s a balancing act of a whole lot of little actions.

While I think about this I am going to go for a walk with a friend, I’ll ask them how they are and try to take notice of the world around me!

Today, tomorrow, this week – how will you Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Learn or Give?

 

Happy Easter!

 

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Nature · Poetry · Seasons

Springing into Life

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This week we had the first day of spring so I had to take a photo of these beautiful crocuses. cropped-thumb_img_8697_1024.jpg

Last week I was asked  what I blog about  and my answer was ‘It’s a blog about well … a little bit of everything.’

I think this blog suits me, I really enjoy writing it, I’ve had some lovely responses and as a bonus, there is a use for all the photos I take of the flowers in my garden!

Over the years I’ve realised I am a ‘Jack of all trades’ – well a ‘Jill’ really.  I like to try things, I am a learner, I have many interests, I’m never bored.

However, things do not happen quickly in my world, I still think I am a bit of a tortoise and I plug away slowly trying to learn new skills, sometimes leaving them but then usually, going back to try, try again.

Recently  I heard a quote that struck a chord:

‘Nothing will come of nothing.’    Shakespeare, King Lear.

(Guess what play my daughter is studying!)

Well, isn’t that the truth? In fact I would like to add to that, ‘Something will come of little and often’. So it may be a very slow process, my writing this blog and sending it out to the world, but little by little, as the days grow longer, it is growing.

 

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Inspiration · Nature · Poetry

Looking Forward (2)

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Sometimes we have an experience that is a wee nugget. Something to cherish.

In one of my first blog posts, back in September, I wrote about my time attending workshops at Woodend Barn in Banchory. As part of the ‘Flourish’ project, Elaine Reid used the wild garden to help inspire our group to write poetry.

This week an exhibition, created by Elaine about the whole ‘Flourish’ project is open to the public, for free, at the Barn.

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The group poem we created in the Flourish workshop

So, yesterday I had a lovely afternoon wondering around the exhibition, reading the poem I had helped to create, walking a labyrinth and enjoying a delicious bowl of parsnip and carrot soup in Buchanan’s Bistro.

The whole experience of attending these workshops in the wild garden, meeting other writers, collaborating and sharing our work has been a joy.  I feel I have learnt so much and have certainly been inspired.

 

I am looking forward.

 

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With poems from the workshops at the Flourish exhibition

 

 

Inspiration · Nature

A butterfly moment

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thumb_IMG_8368_1024You see shoes. One in front of the other. Marching. Hands jammed in your pockets. Head bent towards the ground. Your view narrow, restricted. For all you can see the rest of the world may not exist.

 

You hear your breath grow steadily louder. Unconsciously your head rises centimetre by centimetre. There is the path leading into the distance.

 

The daily fog is clearing, your head turns, appreciating the trees, the leaves, the birdsong.

Then at last. A sigh escapes. It is here. The moment on every walk when your thoughts begin to soar. Your shoulders drop, your head lifts up and there is the sky in all its glory.

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This is the moment ideas fly freely, the answers to the questions of the day appear, and often seem so obvious, you wonder, why didn’t you think of that before?

Well, now is the time. That beautiful, butterfly moment, to capture, embrace, enjoy and breathe.

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