Winter brings the option to enjoy watching the sunrise at a broadly civilised time … a wonderful start to the day!
Sometimes nature’s nurture is a stunning transformation, like the difference one overnight shower can make on a baltic, snowy mountainside!
Hay Bluff wrapped in baltic dusting of February Snow
Hay Bluff the next morning…
… and later that afternoon!!
Sometimes nature’s nurture is providing thinking space, a great rock to sit on, and a very stunning view …
The vale of Ewyas, generous & inspiring
Posted in Nature's Nurture
Tagged Capel-y-ffin, Nurture, thinking space, Vale of Ewyas
Nature’s nurture … meeting the wild and strong…
Mountain Stallion on The Cat’s Back, Black Mountains
… the wild and cute…
Mountain Pony, Hay Bluff
… the wild and deeply contented…
… and the wild and grinning madly 😀
😀
Posted in Nature's Nurture
Tagged Black Mountains, Cat's back, Darren Lwyd, Hay Bluff, Mountain Pony
Flower arranging … not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea but like drawing, we can all do it if we allow that the end result will be within our own style and capability.
My flower arranging style generally involves pottering around whatever natural environment I’m in and picking out a few of whatever there is plenty of: Even better if it can be salvaged having fallen off its perch… Autumn leaves are about to be a good example!
Arranging them in various rustic styles fills a happy few minutes of creative going with the flow… an arrangement that emerges rather than needing to adhere to any preconceived plan. Free, natural, playful, creative, a connection, sharing… yep, that’s nurturing!
What would your style be?
Autumn “Flower” arrangement
One log retrieved from the woodpile, one handful of leaves, bit of moss …
Summer flowers: Dog Rose, Marigolds, Grasses, & shot glasses 🙂
Posted in Creating Daily Nurture, Nature's Nurture
Tagged Arrangement, Autumn leaves, calming, Floristry, Flower, Natural, Nurture
One of the things I love best about being out in wild places is the peaceful, natural soundtrack. No cars. No trains. Few planes.
Instead, peaceful layers of sound that add flavour to the visual feast: Some sounds evoke memories and feelings, like the skylark, whose soaring song instantly connects me to many stunning hot walks where the whole world seemed to just slow down for a while…
(Thank you Chris Chalk for the youtube Skylark http://www.chrischalkart.com/)
The sound of the leaves rustling along an Autumn path; ewes and lambs bleating in the spring; the multiple different gurgles, giggles and chuckles of shallow streams tumbling over rocks; the various birds chirping and calling – some evoking open spaces like the buzzard and skylark, some closer to home like the blackbird’s evening song, or a thrush happily singing (or of course smashing a snail on the rocks, less tuneful but definitely rhythmical!)…
Gurgling stream in the Black Mountains
Whatever sounds of nature you love, there are rich layers to be enjoyed. If you pause and listen for what else you can hear that you haven’t already tuned in to, the layers go on… and on … and on.
A true feast!
Posted in Nature's Nurture
Tagged Birdsong, lambs, listen, nature's soundtrack, pause, skylark
After a brief pause to take stock of the whole blogging malarkey, Daily Nurture is back with more ponderings and explorings.
To help provide a bit of focus for September’s blogs, this month I’m going to be exploring some of the many ways in which nature provides us with nurture… Something that many of you related to last month, from flowers to rivers to mountains, oceans and the myriad of critters that make us smile.
Fresh back from a weekend on holiday with a couple of great walking friends (NURTURE!!), I am currently well topped up with nature’s nuture! Pootling along a couple of sections of the Offa’s Dyke path, along the Welsh border north of Hay-on-Wye, we were outside all day for 2 days. That is my idea of heaven 😀
Spacious landscape along Offa’s Dyke near Kington
We could see for miles. The views were crazy clear, like the air was freshly washed. The colours were technicolour vibrant, Mountain Ash berries hanging in heavy red clusters on the trees, yellow gorse shining, lush grass full of green-ness. Colours fed by rain, sustained by rain!
Vibrant yellow gorse
Rain was falling in patches, and as it turned out, the wet forecast translated to a sunny dry walk for us, whilst we mostly watched rain falling elsewhere around us. Billowing rolls of water-carrying clouds added drama to the skies, their particular warm grey softness such a contrast to the vibrant greens, reds, golds and yellows on the ground.
Sunshine by the River Wye, rainclouds over the northern hills
Vibrant green fields getting a light watering drizzle, above Knighton
Freshly washed sky & lush bracken
A bit of weather coming in over bright moorland near Kington
Fact: Rain is wet. Yep, it’s true. If you want to stay dry it’s an excellent idea to have an umbrella, good waterproofs, or some kind of shelter.
Also Fact: Rain makes for a landscape full of thoroughly stunning colours, full of delight, full of nurture!
Rainbow over Hay-on-Wye
Posted in Nature's Nurture
Tagged Hay-on-Wye, Nurture, Offa's Dyke, Offa's Dyke Path, Rain, Wales
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