#30DaysWild - Paying Attention

After the excitement of the Garden Bioblitz, it's back to squeezing my #30DaysWild into bits and pieces of time.  Having guiltily stolen time last week, I feel more entitled to spend time this week. It is only a few minutes here-and-there and helps steady my mind and so I can really focus on what I need to do.

These days, there is much talk about mindfulness (paying attention to the present moment and your sensations) and its mental health benefits. With these #30DaysWild moments, I am doing something similar - taking a tiny amount of time out to focus on something and my own reactions to it. Then I return to my daily tasks with a fresher mind.

Day 6 - Patterns in a fern


Sunlit Fern in our Uckfield Garden

Another busy day. Grabbed a couple of minutes away from the laptop and found sunlit ferns - I was fascinated by the way the sunlight picks out the patterns in the leaves.

I spent some of the evening identifying members of the 'awkward squad' from the Garden BioBlitz.

Day 7 - Wine and orchids

Tickerage sparkling wine and birdsong.

Between the end of the working day and going to an Uckfield Neighbourhood Plan meeting, I took my drink outside. I was serenaded by birdsong whilst enjoying locally produced wine. Truly a moment to savour.

Spotted Orchids on the way into town.

On the way to the meeting, I knelt amongst the wildflowers at the roadside and marvelled at the intricate patterns on the tiny orchid flowers. As an aside - a big thank you to East Sussex council for not mowing these down.

Day 8 - Busy bees

Tree Bumble Bee on ceonothus

After getting the newspaper first thing, I watched bees hard doing their work before getting on with mine. A definite fellow feeling there.

Honey Bee.

Day 9 - A little Alchemist

Water drops on Alchemilla Mollis.

Alchemists used drops of water, which they believed to be very pure, from the leaves of this plant. Hence its name, Alchemilla Mollis.



Buttercups rescued from the mower.

Mid-afternoon we got a call saying the man with the mower was coming to deal with our grass. I shot out and picked buttercups.

As well as looking at my own wildlife, I have been dipping into the #30DaysWild Twitter stream. Because others have kindly helped me with identification, I am trying to pay it back by helping others identify their bugs and flowers.  There are more #30DaysWild blogs at the Wildlife Trusts' MyWildLife page.