Some leisurely lurking around our garden pond in times past yielded some patterns pleasing to the eye and to the mind. In these troubled times and after the widespread damage from the fearsome hailstorm we experienced last week, for this post I settle for some undemanding peace and quiet.
Continue reading “Perceiving patterns at the pond”
I did not plan this post. But yesterday our area was in the path of an enormous and ferocious storm that pelted everything it passed over with hailstones large and small, round and irregular. It came suddenly, without that distinctive warning smell of impending hail, and the hailstorm roared over us for about ten minutes, shattering and pulverising as it went.
Continue reading “Patterns in nature: Hailstones and their aftermath”
Our veggie patch took on greater significance during the stringent first lockdown level of the pandemic when even grocery shopping could be a fraught experience. At the very last local farmers’ market that took place just before the late-March lockdown commenced, we bought some winter veg seedlings to add to our vegetable garden.
Continue reading “The kitchen garden: Brightening our lockdown horizons”
Seeking a sense of calmness in nature, in simplicity and in accepting transience, I have chosen some images that bring to me a sense of grace.
Continue reading “The simple art of nature: Connecting with grace”
Store cupboard items can produce fresh salad ingredients within two days. That is the magic of seed germination – otherwise known as sprouting. Continue reading “Salad in the cupboard: Sprouting lentils”
This springtime, at first we didn’t have rain. Then we had a lot. And one morning a favourite old tree, sodden with the weight of the water, fell with a shuddering thud. Continue reading “Owed to a tree: For its beauty and bounty many thanks”
Back in the suburbs after our travels, we still have the transcendent sky. Paradoxically, as it arches above us, out of reach and sublime, it also reconnects us to Earth. Continue reading “Transcendent suburban skies”
In a hot dry spring many birds and animals are struggling to survive even here in suburbia. However, gardens large and small can help wildlife survive in difficult circumstances, especially when gardens are planted with indigenous (native) plants that provide food and shelter. Continue reading “Food for birds and wildlife: Planting for heat and drought”
A process of discovery is available to us if we learn to see what we usually overlook. But what we discover depends more on our own personal filters than on what we think we are looking at. Continue reading “Surprises and encouragements: Learning to see”
letting nature back in 