Category: The Natural World
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Joys of a quiet valley
Early in the morning, in the peaceful quietude of the valley where the Eastern Allen runs, it’s so good to be able to appreciate the softness. Not that life is easy, up here on the high fellsides. There are plenty of rigours that keep families scratching, and more to come as the cost of heating…
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Open-eyed wonder
Native to North America, the brown-headed cowbird (so named for its distinctive brown head, of course, and its habit of following bison herds when they were grazing across the great American plains) has recently been seen in the UK. Surely, however, an eager cowbird male would not casually travel to our garden to find a…
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Real good rain
I read a column the other day decrying our obsession with bright sunny days as ‘good’ . . . and dark rainy ones as, well, as something to be endured. But in this summer of extensive drought, and with climate harbingers sounding ever more doom-laden, real good rain is something to be cheered, surely, the…
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Never too late . . .
A decade ago, though it seems a lifetime hence, we made a return visit to Sicily. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, was to find the final resting place of a daughter of Northumberland, Florence Trevelyan, whose life had intrigued us when we encountered her bust in the public gardens of Taormina. Now…
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Solace of a morning mist
The unconscionable challenges of the Barnvelder cockerel were incessant, this morning, so that by 5:55 we turned around and agreed that we might as well get up. My awaking duty is to get the water on for the tea. I might not have noticed, in my own sleepy haze, that the mist had settled across…
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The soft twilight . . .
I awakened early this morning with a persistent toothache. And it’s weeks before I can see a dentist. I felt a bit sorry for myself, until I looked up and saw the softness of the early morning light. Outside, it was soft, so soft, in the cool glow of morning twilight. The full moon (or…
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Checking out the willows . . .
Really, it’s anybody’s guess whether my willow plantings will be a grove someday or not. There’s definitely signs of growth in numerous whips, much more than last year evinced, but still. It’s such a harsh environment up here, until the trees create their own shelter and the succession of plants accumulates behind them. Some willow…
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Sun trap!
So we sat outside for a little while in the late afternoon sunshine, thinking about old times actually. I’d already channeled my inner photographer, looking for angles and light, so I’d kind of pre-supposed the joy already. But it was a solace to sit quietly and think together. Is this situation the right way forward?…
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Opportunism: not such a nasty word
Any biologist will tell you that without opportunism, few plant species would survive. Their entire reproductive strategy seems to be built on the chance that a wandering seed, among many that are lost, might find a suitable place to germinate and grow. Whether the distribution is by wind, by animal, or by bird, eventually the…
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Weekend joys
Throughout the afternoon, and into the later evening, we kept the water warm and inviting, while for excitement we roared along with the rest of the country as the Lionesses took the Euro Championship. The dinner thereafter was a wonderful flourish; we chatted about life’s new challenges with our beloved neighbours until we were absolutely…
Roads to Joy 