The last week of June was absolutely scorching here in the Scottish Borders. The Birdhouse, my little studio, was swelterama so I retreated indoors to work. I’ve been keeping the top half of the stable door in the kitchen open so I can watch the constant too-ing and fro-ing of the swallows to their nest …
July Wildlife: What to look out for in nature this month Read More »
Two weekends ago I spent the weekend in Pittenweem with my sister & the dog. The plan was to spend two full days walking sections of the Fife Coastal Path but it rained a month’s worth of rain on the Saturday. I discovered very quickly that my new bee-print raincoat isn’t waterproof in the slightest …
The Fife Coastal Path (remembering why walking is great) Read More »
There’s been an abundance of sunshine over the past month. It’s a bit cooler this week but that optimistic June feel – the long days and short nights, the warm breeze, the luscious greens – is full of promise. I sometimes think that the idea of a long summer stretching ahead is better than the …
June Wildlife: What to Look Out for in Nature This Month Read More »
We’re already 14 days into May & it has been quite marvellous so far – lots of blue skies and pink blossom. The swifts arrived back in the village last week, joining the swallows and martins, and filling the sky with looping joy. One of the most lovely things about May is watching the birds …
May Wildlife: What to look out for in nature this month Read More »
Unbelievably, as I type, it is still snowing outside. We were all up-in-arms about snow in March (and it snowed really quite a lot in March) but no one really expected it to be going strong into April. There were some bright hopeful days, but they were few and far between. If this was this …
April Wildlife: What to Look Out for in Nature This Month Read More »
Our dog, Buddy, isn’t one of those nice dogs that doesn’t like rain and delicately steps around puddles. He needs lots of exercise in every weather. On our daily walks, I often take my camera – and sometimes my Polaroid, too – with me. Buddy has got quite used to waiting for me to stop …
Process: Photographs, Sketchbook & Finished Drawings Read More »
For the Spring Pack I compiled my own list of favourite things about Spring (see above). I thought I’d got it covered but I was blown away by everyone’s contributions in the comments for the giveaway. It seems that Spring brings A LOT of joy. Hope, life, love, light, happiness, new beginnings, promise, new life …
To be honest, this is not the blog post I was hoping to write at the start of March! By mid February I had psychologically totally moved on to Spring and her busy activity and fresh bright greens. I was planning a blog post full of sweet meadow scents and new life. But then ‘The …
March Wildlife: What to look out for in nature this month Read More »
With February comes the noticeable lengthening of the days. Although the days have been inching longer since the winter solstice on December 21st, it’s only once February dawns that we begin to make some serious daylight progress. Winter’s midpoint was on February 3rd, and from that point on the days stretch out and the night …
February Wildlife: What to Look Out for This Month Read More »
There’s very little more lovely than seeing the delicate imprint of bird tracks dancing across fresh snow in January. It feels like you have woken up to a new world. Snow-fall at New Year always seem poignant, like nature is drawing us a blank slate on which to build the year ahead. A few days …
January Wildlife: What To Look Out For This Month Read More »