Plants are like people...

One of the young men I work with made the observation last week that 'plants are like people' and in that one short phrase he summed up my working life. At one level people are all the same, but all different-just like these daffodils he grew which was what prompted the comment.

But it goes so much further than that; whilst working with him we've talked about what plants(we) need to grow well, what makes plants(us) sick and how plants(people) need space, time and the right conditions if they are going to blossom to their full potential.

This boy has witnessed terrible tradgedy in his young life and last week we talked about a scar running down a tree we were working near. How although the tree would never be the same because of a huge trauma resulting in a large scar, it could still grow and ultimately blossom. Just like him. 

He's right-plants are just like people...

Practically Perfect

I've been working with some guys lately who are struggling with perfection-and the idea that if its not perfect then its not worth having. They come from chaotic and traumatic backgrounds and desperately want to find a new, perfect world to inhabit. Using their plants and the world around them we've been discussing what perfection is and whether as humans we need to desire it as strongly as they do.

My time with them is coming to an end and when I was thinking about a way to strengthen the message that imperfection can be beautiful and valuable I remembered this picture taken at a local ice cream farm last summer...

That is a serious scar, an impressive imperfection and a magnificent tree. It is a true beauty and home to hundreds of insect which support a much wider eco system so its value is beyond doubt. I shall give my charges a copy each and I hope that they can look at something that they would see as far removed from perfect and remember that a life that is altered by drama and sadness can still be both valuable and wonderful .

Water, water everywhere...

Despite the gorgeous spring sunshine its been a wet day one way or another. Two small groups went pond dipping-no frogspawn sadly but we did find plenty of larvae and nymphs to make up for it. Some of the children were really keen; leaning over the water trying to spot their targets...

And others showed no fear whilst emptying their nets...

Others were more timid; expressing anxiety at what may lie beneath...

Or their nervousness at the creatures they caught, but they've all asked to go again, keen to face their fears.

Then we arrive home and my two have decided summer is here and commence an impromptu water fight using whatever containers were to hand...

I wasn't too happy this morning but I've had my own nature therapy today: sunshine, water and children; my three personal mood enhancers!

Birds v Bees

The children(ok and me) have spent all morning watching a mighty battle between a red-tailed bumble bee(Bombus lapidarius) and a pair of blut tits vying for our nestbox. The blue tits had been checking it out for about a week, hanging outside and looking around and occasionally nipping in for a few seconds before heading off out again.

Today though they seemed to be keen to move in and start building up a cosy home, frequent visits and lots of pecking at the entrance hole-putting their mark on it I guess. Then the bee appeared. Its been around for a day or so, seemingly circling the house, and at times getting confused and coming into the conservatory for a quick look. Wh and I discussed where she might be looking to start up her colony but never thought she might fight the blue tits for her new home.

So the bee heads in to the box, the tits reappear and whilst working on their front door notice the queen and retreat to the beech hedge twittering wildly, the queen leaves and the tits bombard her chasing her madly until she disappears. This has been going on all day-with no winner as yet-who will be left with the new apartment ready to raise their family....?

As if that wasn't enough excitement the frogspawn is developing well, the black dots are now more like dashes and you can start to see the tadpole shape appearing. Fingers crossed that they continue to grow well as Wh has been talking all about 'the cycle', and it would be fantastic for him to experience that up close and personal.

Nature at its best, right outside our window.

Examples of a sterile playground

Following on from my post yesterday about the lack of loose materials in school playgrounds have a look at Teacher Toms latest post for photos of a truly uninspiring playground...
http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-big-playroom.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TeacherTom+%28Teacher+Tom%29&utm_content=Google+UK

Loose Materials

So many of the school or playgrounds I visit have no loose material at all, the only activities on offer are sport, or maybe games like hide and seek if there are any plants left to hide behind.

Today I went into the playground at one of the schools I visit regularly and was greeted by a group of year 3 pupils, who I don't know, demanding that I follow them to see their 'settlement'. When the group of around 20 pupils parted I saw the most amazing village, created from the few loose items they had scavenged from their flat and featureless landscape...



They have even found some labels which they have used to name the different areas including the circus and the church.

3 year groups, upto 20 children at a time were working together, communicating their ideas and sorting out any difficulties to create an amazing fantasy land.

Several staff are now keen to enourage the creativity and we've discussed other loose materials that we could import from the vast parkland that ajoins the school.

I can't wait until I visit again to see how the settlement, and its creators have developed...

Spring Flowers

Went on our favourite snowdrop walk on Sunday, and it wasn't that the snowdrops were past their best, more that they had been outshone by the crocuses and the daffodils! Hence Cj has filled the camera with numerous shots, but at least in the digital age its easy to pick the best, as above and delete the rest.

I'm not a great fan of children mixing with technology too much-in fact theres a no tv on school days rule and a 2 hour screen time limit at weekends which makes me pretty strict according to my two.

However Cj spent a happy two hours looking closely at her surroundings, thinking about what makes a good composition, trying to create a few arty shots...

...and enjoying the beauty around her.

Maybe just a little technology can be a good thing, only don't tell my two I said that!!

Get Outdoors!!!!

Held an explorer session in some local woods today(see http://swwgblog1.blogspot.com/ for more info). The children had a fantastic time, getting muddy and helping with a litter pick despite the cold and the damp. Yes there were signs of spring to look and listen for, but actually they, and us grown ups, were just enjoying being outdoors...

Raindrops are falling.......

Torrential rain today but much milder so we went out for a welly walk(without wellies sadly as they had been left at school in the friday rush). After investigating how wet we got by shaking a tree over our heads and stood listening to the torrent of water in the drains Cj decided to see how many times raindrops bounce...

...whilst Wh was more intererested in how many swings it took to empty the puddle...



...the answer-about 15, with most of the water having soaked into his trousers!!!!

We had a great time and got throughly soaked, which was a good excuse to head home, wrap up warm and have hot chocolate. But while we got dry and warmed up I realised we hadn't seen any other children out playing, in fact the only two other people we had seen walking were out with their dogs.

Where was everybody else.......?

What is it about Ice???

Another cold one today-barely above freezing all day and the fog never did lift. So much to Wh's delight the bird bath was frozen when he got home. Only a thin layer maybe 2 or 3 mm thick but enough for him to spend half an hour exploring it.

He started by tentatively breaking the sheet into smaller pieces-one of which looked like a dagger so was used to pretend he was a rampaging pirate. Then he realised when he dropped the ice it shattered, so started to experiment how hard he needed to throw it before it broke into really small pieces, he'd clearly been paying attention to a conversation with his Dad last night about 'force'!! (For the safety conscious amongst us Wh and I did have a conversation about when and where you are allowed to throw things before he got too carried away.)

Once all the ice was scattered across the road he thought he would investigate how cold the water that was left was, by dipping his foot in, school shoes and all-at which point I decided enough exploring for today!

The whole thing left me wondering what is it about ice that we want to test it with our weight, watch it crack, and enjoy throwing things onto it. All through the cold spell the canal near to us was frozen and the debris on the top was astounding by the time it started to melt-people, yes adults included, seem compelled to try to break it.

I worked with some young people recently and they spent a happy hour smashing the ice on the (nearly empty/under renovation/no wildlife in it) pond. The energy they expended turned them from angry and unhappy to calmer and able to verbalise their emotions. Yes it appeared destructive and negative but that's how they were feeling!!

I enjoyed breaking the ice too, but I was also able to enjoy its splendour, holding large sheets up to the sunlight and seeing the patterns created there. The students weren't ready for the beauty yet-but hopefully after a few more sessions working on their anger, they can start to really see for the first time some of the wonderful nature that  surrounds them...

Thrushes galore

Another observation by C this morning-2 song thrushes on the green. We have never had thrushes locally until the last 12 months-I'm guessing the cover wasn't right before with there being no mature trees as its a newish estate. Last year we began to get regular visits from a mistle thrush, singing its heart out from the roof tops and then in the last few months we have seen song thrushes around occasionally. Imagine our joy at finding some broken open snail shells in our front garden last week-maybe my salad leaves will be safe at last!!!

That's provided the thrushes hang around now all the bushes have been cut back to the barest branches by the council,at least its been done before any of the birds should have started prospecting for nest sites-although the blue tits have already been surveying our nest box so love is definitely in the air already for some birds...

Miserable Monday...

Ok not Monday,Tuesday but my first day back at work for two weeks so it feels like a Monday-and worst of all catching up on paperwork-filing and emailing etc so I resigned myself to a day of drudgery. Then my gorgeous girl made my day...running up to the office window with a beaming smile.

Overflowing with excitement she eventually managed to explain that she had been playing hide and seek with W and whilst stood at the bottom of a tree a flock of a dozen long tailed tits had landed above her head, staying for a few minute,calling to each other and giving her a perfect view. A joyful memory for her, and a joyful memory for me-the smile and excitement of truly experiencing nature...

Happy New Year!!

A mild start to the new year has finally meant a return for our small birds in the garden, after weeks of silence and nothing entering our frost pocket back garden this morning we had several blackbirds, a wren, a robin, a chaffinch and great, blue and coal tits. It made me realise just how much I'd missed them whilst eating my morning toast.

It helps I think that I haven't tided at all outside so there is leaf litter everywhere which the blackbirds and robins are scattering to the four corners of the garden. They've also repeatedly pulled up my garlic and onions which were struggling anyway having been planted out just before the first snowfall. My patience will be tested I think whilst I wait to see whether any have rooted or not despite all their tribulations!!

We went for an extended family walk today at our local quarry and the small birds there were very busy catching up on their feeding. Within a few minutes we had seen a nuthatch on the peanut feeder adjacent to the car park but my two were most pleased by the woodpecker we heard before we'd even got out of the car-couldn't see it but the drumming was impressive. Spring is definitely in the air for the birds, even if its going to be a while longer before it feels like it for us.....

Mini creatures

Spent the day outside so of course the lovely weather had disappeared: cooler, overcast and light drizzle-much more appropriate for this time of year but I missed the burst of sunshine and warmth from earlier this week.

It was an autumn clear up day with no little people, just little creatures to keep me company. Had a large area of production beds to clear which kept the robin happy-all the insects and worms were laid out buffet style and it certainly made the most of the bonanza.

Next I moved into the walled garden and found the most gorgeous little lizard hiding against the wall-I could have watched it all day it was stunning. The saying small but perfectly formed is true!!!

Reluctantly I carried on with my task of weeding, large numbers of nettles most of which stung me as I pulled them out! However it was worth it because kneeling low down, hidden by the plants I was suddenly surrounded by a flock of long tailed tits chattering away incessantly-checking in with each other all the time, and then just as suddenly they were gone, only to be replaced by a wren, less than two foot away from me.

Its certainly been a day for small creatures all of which gave me infinite pleasure...

Mists and all that

Another stunning day. Last night was much colder and there was a real chill in the air as I left the house at 730. The mist over the fields waxed and waned, in some places so thick you could only see a foot or two from the roadside, and watching the sun rise above the mist reminded me of how small we are and I was thankful to the queue of traffic for my enforced slowing down so I could savour the view.

Why as adults do we find it so hard to slow, where does the pressure to go faster and rush from place to place come from? I have spent the day with children who could happily spend an hour examining a maple seed. They played helicopters and then carefully dissected the seed from its locomotive source, and then wondered allowed how difficult it was to open the seed case and how did it happen without any help. Finally they prised them open and were rewarded with the bright green 'tree' all curled up, waiting for the right conditions to grow.

Just like our children, who also need the right conditions to grow, including the opportunities to slow down and stop, and equally as important, adults who are prepared to slow down and stop with them-sharing those experiences.

As American naturalist Rachel Carson wrote: "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in." My pledge to my children, and all the children I come into contact with is to be that adult-can you slow down enough to make the same pledge.....?

Autumn Beauty

What an amazing day. Dragons breath this morning much to C and W's delight-our first properly cold night and as the sun rose the sky was the most dazzling blue. The leaf colour is becoming more intense every day and because its been so dry the leaves that are on the ground are crinkly and crunchy, perfect for wellie walks. W has discovered that a conker is a whole tree in his hand and is avidly collecting them to plant a whole forest. Another child I know can't wait and instead of collecting seeds, picks any seed head he finds and plants it instantly-he is desperate to spread the beauty of trees as quickly as he can.

The birds seem to be making the most of the plentiful insect supply and are ignoring the feeders-a large flock of longtailed tits spent a happy hour hunting under the peeling bark of our neighbours eucalyptus with much chatter and frivolity. They are a household favourite-how could they not be when they are so fluffy and they bob with that ridiculously long tail!

A definite day to stand and stare...

Wind in the Willow

Really windy today-children hyper, caught up in the gusts and swirling round as fast as the leaves and small branches that have been dislodged from the trees. The willow circle looked amazing, the silver of the leaves glinting like a shoal of fish twisting and turning. No rain yet today despite the forecast and it still feels warm but autumn is definitely in the air. Saw field maples today with their leaves already yellow and Wh came home from the library with a bag full of books and a bag full of conkers still in their cases-they look so full of promise, I wait with interest to see how big the seeds inside are...

No birds this afternoon, but over the last few days the smaller ones are flocking together, greenfinches, goldfinches and blue tits, keeping each other company and providing safety in numbers.The sparrows keep themselves to themselves but then they are a flock on their own, 26 was our highest count-not bad for a garden that previously has only seen the odd one or two. The blackbirds and Robin have been back this week too having been absent since about July, not regular visits yet but enough to let us know they are around and about.

Unlike the collared doves who have been brazenly mating whilst on the feeder a few feet from the kitchen window, difficult to ignore as were the questions it led to from Wh!!!! What with the doves, the cabbage white butterflies and the wood pigeons you could be forgiven for thinking about spring rather than autumn.

The veg patch is looking too tired to continue the illusion though, and the pumpkins give the game away, a gorgeous orange colour and swelling nicely with the rain and more due tomorrow. Shame there isn't more sun forecast yet as my tomatoes are looking very green still-chutney rather than pasta sauce is looking a distinct possibility!!!

1st September 2010

Welcome to a year in the wildlife of my family!!

After a long summer holiday which involved, amongst others, listening for wild boar in the woods, hunting for water voles in the pouring rain and watching merlins chase above us in the peak district, its the final day of the summer break and we're contenting ourselves with the nature in our back garden...

Early breakfast to get us back into the routine!!! and we get a great show of the house martins skimming the roof tops. It was a cold night again last night, so the children get a fantastic view and the air is filled with the calls of the birds and the "Wow's" and "Wooo's" of my two wishing they could be up there with them.

Lunch in the garden and we're watching the butterflies and hoverflies get their lunch too. Whilst we enjoy cheese and ham rolls they are lunching on verbena, which is in full flower, and getting a little taster of the sedum on which the buds are just beginning to break. There is a persistent painted lady, maybe one of the ones Cj hatched earlier in the year, and it doesn't leave for the whole hour we are sitting there. The children are fascinated by its eyes "they're freaky" and its proboscis, watching it dip in and out of the flowers. Cj wants to know how the pollen creates seeds, she already knows the stigma and stamen, so we get the books out and look at pictures of dissected flowers and ovaries, with her comparing them to the flowers in front of us. We are also lucky and get a small copper join us for lunch, a first in our garden, and it is truly beautiful in the summer sunshine.

The next find is not a new addition but a plentiful one, as it seems to have been a record ladybird year with the children finding one on nearly every plant in the garden and almost as many pupae waiting to hatch. Wh loves the tickly feeling they create walking across his fingers and keeps trying to persuade them onto his hand, not sure they like the taste of cheese tho, unlike the wasp which keeps returning to rest on WH's discarded cheddar!!!

A little later whilst i'm cooking there is a yell from the garden and when I head out to investigate the children are captivated by the collection of butterflies on the gable end of the house enjoying the warmth of the evening sun. There are 8, one each of small tortoiseshell, peacock and red admiral, but the others refusing to open their wings to give us a recognisable view. They seem happy to stay and I have to call the children in several times to eat before they are prepared to leave the butterflies to their sunbathing, maybe they all feel its the last of the summer...