I've booked to go to this year's RNA (Romantic Novelists Association) Conference in July.
This year I've been trying to reduce the stresses that get to me. After a very bad day a few weeks ago my distress was eventually eased with a quiet walk by the nearby stream absorbing the quiet and the sights and sounds of nature, while the trees muffled the background noise of constant traffic.
This year I've also decided to grow more in the garden and in tubs on the patio. We've always grown various types of fruit: rhubarb, gooseberries, blackberries and red currants.
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| Gooseberries and Lemon Balm... |
Over the warm Easter weekend I began the sowing and planting, Lettuce that you can cut leaves off and leave to regrow, Marigolds and Sage. I'm also trying to grow potatoes as a first time experiment.
I recently bought a Lupin plant locally and transplanted it into a bigger pot. It has a couple of flowers that are opening and providing a burst of colour.
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| Lupins... |
The bees seem to like the Lupins...
After an unexpected passing visit from a Pheasant back in April we've become used to seeing and hearing the sounds of Mallard ducks.
While I was outside taking these photos I could hear the quaking and thought a duck was in the garden next door.
Then I saw the female duck tucking into the bird food under our hawthorn tree and quietly began to move back toward the house.
When I stood up and looked over the top of the clothesline full of drying towels I saw the male duck watching me.
I quickly took a picture and a moment later he took off and joined his mate at the food stop.
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| Ready for Take-Off... |
Some days they lurk for hours, others it's a swift take-away visit.
With the bench in the shade of the old rose bush it's relaxing to sit outside with a book and a mug of coffee even for a short time before returning to normality.
Do you get any unexpected wildlife visiting you?
9 comments:
You're so right to take time out with nature, Carol - it has a knack of putting life into perspective again.
Liz- that's very true. We live in such a busy world now that it's too easy to miss out on the benefit of absorbing the wonders of nature. :-)
I often take a cuppa out into the garden to give my eyes and brain a break. We have the world's tiniest pond in one corner, but it's full of newts; I always crouch down and say hello. We are on the edge of the town, so we don't see anything very exotic, but we have a birdbox that at the moment is occupied by tomtits. D'you know what? I'm starting to relax just thinking about it!
Totally agree that gardening is an excellent way to deal with stress and good for us in other ways too – as well as being helpful at times to the writing process and in my case inspiring stories.
Julia- your garden sounds delightful and very relaxing. We're close to a main road but even that noise gets muffled by the sounds of birds singing and chirruping. :-)
Patsy- yes gardening can be a good exercise method as well as being good for the mind- and story creativity. :D
Funnily enough, I've been enjoying getting some more plants into our garden and being in nature. That's great you're going to the RNA Conference. I'm managing this year too so hopefully we'll get to meet in real life at last!
Rosemary- That's wonderful, I'll finally be able to meet you in person at the conference. :-)
Perhaps it’s the creativity of nature that feeds our creative souls. It certainly works for me too. As for wildlife - the usual birds and long-tails that the cat hasn’t yet managed to catch or scare away!
Bea- yes I agree it does feed our creative souls. We used to have a lot of neighbourhood cats disturbing the wildlife but I rarely see any now and the birds are relatively safe, thank goodness.
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