From May to June

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May is nearly over, and I haven't blogged in a while. It doesn't mean nothing is happening, it means I've been busy. Busy playing with Hannah and Sheena at the local beer festival (at the Rumburgh Buck), busy working and preparing for our biggest event of the year (#RedforRuth), and busy gardening!

Of all the busy things I do, gardening is the most calming. I have a lovely  polytunnel set up in my little veg area, and my greenhouse is full of young plants. I've claimed another bit of garden for another veg bed, and have had to put bamboo canes up to deter the plant nibbling peacock who visits regularly.

Percy peacock

Sheena loves cabbages so I am growing them in the polytunnel and in the veg bed under netting. We have so many beautiful butterflies (including white admiral whose caterpillars feed on the wild honeysuckle) and many of them rather fancy my brassicas! (And the older geration might just be saying 'Ooooh matron!' to themselves).

Watering is a very relaxing activity, as is deadheading. Weeding, not so much, but still necessary. We have one weed in our garden that just appeared this year in the lawn. The good folk of the Gardeners Question Time Facebook page assure me it is 'miner's lettuce' - an edible plant. But I won't be putting it on my salad - not with three dogs in the garden. I may try growing some elsewhere just for tasting purposes though.

My next big gardening project is reclaiming the borders at the dog training centre and putting in some plants that will thrive (given that dogs are everywhere, the border is in heavy shade, and it's not regularly watered). 

Meanwhile, I will continue gardening and feeding the birds. We have a cuckoo nearby, regularly hear the nightingale, and have blackcap, wrens and robins. The feeder is visited by greater spotted woodpecker, marsh, great, long and blue tits, goldfinch and chaffinch. And under the feeder - a couple of stock doves, wood pigeons, dunnock and Percy. 

I'm hoping we have lots of fresh produce from my efforts this, year. I will no doubt post pictures of cabbages and tomatoes in due course.

Liked this? Try...

• A walk on the wild side
• Ramsey Canyon
• Pond life

It may be cute but...

A few years back there was a popular video
of a pet slow loris circulating on social media.
They do not make good pets.

On a cat lovers' group on Facebook someone had posted a 'cute' video of a small marmoset dressed up, and it got lots of likes and the comment 'Wish I had one'.

This is SOOOO WRONG! Whether the animal itself was captive bred or not, images like these encourage people to think owning wildlife means they will have a 'cute' pet - no consideration for the damage to the species, the illegal trade (serious crime involved in wildlife trade from primates to orchids), and the damage to the environment they live in.

Don't think this is a big problem? Check this out - Tech companies take down 3 million online listings for trafficked wildlife. Yes, 3 million, and as well as each one of those posts, there are thousands of other wildlife traded in posts that are 'disguised' on social media (eg ivory sold as white plastic). I won't even start on the wildlife markets, but they are almost certainly to thank for Corona Virus jumping to humans.

Please - if you see a cute picture of a wild animal kept as a pet, do not hit like or share, but report it to the admins of the site/group and point out the danger of encouraging people to want wild animals as pets.

(Oh, and in case you think this is just a problem in Asia, if you go on holiday and bring back a shell, or an item made of a rare wood, you may well be committing a crime too!)

Further information:

• TRAFFIC - the charity tackling international trade in wildlife
• WWF - who partner closely with TRAFFIC to stop illegal wildlife trade
  
• IFAW/Responsible Travel - and the danger of wildlife holiday souvenirs

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• Being in Malaysia
• An overheard conversation
• A night on the Brecks

Photo credit: TRAFFIC.org

Doves and cuckoos

Yesterday morning I heard my first cuckoo - today I heard it several times! Good to know they are back, and though they are a parasitic bird (poor little reed warblers!), they are a bird in trouble in the UK, so good to hear them at all.

The other nice visitor to our garden is the turtle dove - though I heard them regularly last year, I never saw them. This year, a pair are actually visiting our bird feeders! The siskins, tits and woodpecker all make a real mess when they grab the sunflowers out of our feeders, so the ground feeding birds (chaffinch, dunnock, pheasant and pigeons) love clearing up for me.

These are a rarity now, and such a treat to see them. 

Useful links:

RSPB - cuckoo

RSPB - turtle dove  

And now...

So it's been a month since my last post, two more chemos done, and the reduced dose/change in meds has made a huge difference. I am still really tired and have a number of side-effects, but progress is being made. Mostly, as it happens, in my garden.

One of the challenges of cancer, and the treatment regime, is the emotional toll it takes on you - not just the physical one. And being in my garden has been very good for me. Although I get very tired and sometimes run out of energy, I've managed to be outside (weather permitting) almost every day.

We've had a hot April with frosty nights so it's not been the usual gardener's calendar, but I've grown lots of plants from seed, and also (with help of course) converted a part of the garden into a mini-allotment where I have potatoes, peas and sweetcorn planted. When the frosts stop, my baby cabbages, sprouts and other veggies will go out there too. 

I do a little at a time, and rest a lot, but being in the fresh air and sunshine, and going for (short) walks with the dogs in the forest has helped my mental health as well as my ability to cope with the physical demands of cancer.

I've made some planters for some of the veg and flowers, and although they lack finesse, they certainly do the job. I do like working with wood and will, when I have time/energy, start to deconstruct some more pallets so we can  make more things for the garden.

The next stage medically is a scan and then a review to see if I am actually cancer free now (hopefully). They will then decide how many more chemos I need - I've had five, and could have up to twelve. But it will depend on the scan results and also the levels of my side-effects. There is a balance to be struck between the medical benefit and the chemical impact.

The reversal operation for my stoma will probably not be for quite a while - there is a huge backlog of operations for the NHS and tmy surgery is not a priority. That's OK - I can live with Ripley a bit longer. 

I want to get back to 'normal' (don't we all in these strange times),  I really want to get back to work, back to living the identity that doesn't have 'Cancer' stamped all over it. But in the meantime I am enjoying the wildlife in my garden, and the satisfaction of growing (and eventually eating) our own produce. 

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Pond life

Round two

Gardener mouse from 'Not on the high street'

I have my next chemotherapy on Monday - with the dose tweaked. My consultant said that they will adjust the chemos to minimise the impact, and one of them they can stop if needed. I have to report my  side effects as they start.

In the meantime Sheena has been doing my line care, and taking my bloods. It's quite a process and I lie in bed (with the electric blanket on, mmm) and present my PICC for her to clean and change the dressings. We have step by step instructions from the hospital and a sterile line care kit. I read out the instructions and Sheena does the nursey bit. I think she enjoys it just a little. Makes a change from dog training I suppose!

Whilst I am feeling well I am keeping busy in the garden, building planters and sowing the early veg and flower seeds. But I have a nemesis! I have planted peas three times, and each time they have ended up being a mouse's dinner. I have also fed the mouse squash and cucumber seeds, so it's time for another plan. I've blocked one of the holes into the greenhouse with stones, and put the more delicious seeds inside a propagator. Let's see how smart that mouse is!

Useful links:

• Not on the high street - gardener mouse
• Bowel Cancer UK
• How to keep mice out of the greenhouse
• Socialising your puppy during lockdown - a blog by Sheena

Other stories from this blog:

• Dowse and out - falling off a ladder and trying to dowse
• The jump - another weird dream
• Updated adventures - a big hill and prehistoric monuments

Lil' Boomer

Back in July, during lockdown,  Sheena's business premeses were left unattended for some time and became a bit overgrown. Waggytails Dog Training Centre is in the hamlet of Weston, and is adjacent to farmland. The car park is next to a huge maize field, and the astroturf and grass areas are separated from the car park by a hedge made of dead lelandii and other miscellaneous growth such as elder and nettles. Further in, behind the grass and next to the astroturf, is a large sandy area full of weeds. If you are a partridge, this is lovely foraging ground. The astroturf was full of little mossy weeds too and the grass was so long you'd lose your dog in it.

We worked hard mowing, clearing, cutting, brushing, sweeping, painting ... all those things that were needed for when the Centre could open again. The hall was tidied, social distancing for dog training implemented and barriers bought and the whole place given a deep clean (and a new kitchen).

One afternoon we were sitting having a rest in the astroturf area, in the shade near the hedge. Peep peep. We looked down to see a baby partridge pottering about. I put him back in the hedge where, hopefully, his mother was hiding. A few minutes later, peep peep. He was back. I put him back in the hedge the other side, deep in the undergrowth behind one of the outbuildings. I went back to painting.

Peep peep. He came back. No sign of mother. Peep peep. He was looking a bit tired. I picked him up, warmed him, and put him back in the hedge. Didn't see him for a bit until - peep peep. He was sitting on my foot.

By the end of the day it was clear mother had scarpered and this little chap was our responsibility. I took him into the sandy area and helped him find some tasty bugs (tapping the ground with my finger, he followed and snapped up the little protein packets). 

That evening we took him home and put him in a box - after learning that he mustn't get wet (which he did after diving into his water bowl) and having to warm him up in my hands, we left him overnight fully expecting him to have passed away. 

The following morning I went to check. Peep peeeeep. He was still with us, just, so I fed him some water on my fingertip and took him back to Waggytails. He was soon pottering about the sandy area, gobbling up the bugs and - in a humungous effort for such a little chap - ate a whole caterpillar! This was perfect timing, his stomach would be full as I popped him back into his box and took him to a rehoming expert.

Last we heard he was gobbling up waxworms and mealworms and snuggling under the breast of a broody hen. I hope he/she made it. A little fighter who had a tough start.

PS we called him 'Boomer' - because he kept coming back like a little boomerang.

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Field day

Suffolk lullaby

Pond life

Photos (C) Sheena Stebbing

Pond life

 In May 2020 it was lockdown - the sun was shining, I was on furlough, Sheena couldn't run her classes, and we had that most precious gift, time! OK, I was undergoing cancer treatment, but from May to July we had time to focus on our garden.

Our lawn was huge - a big expanse of grass with nothing to break it up. Would be great if we had lots of kids with footballs, but we don't. We thought about a border, and decided on a figure of 8 shape. Then we decided that one half of the 8 should be a pond. So at the beginning of May, we started out pond.

Once we had marked it out and marked our border and the pond area, we hired a digger. The result - after a lot of hard work - is our beautiful pond and accompanying border (full of home grown cosmos). We're delighted with the pond and spend our mornings eating breakfast on the bench, even when it's a bit chilly. Apart from it looking lovely, it is fascinating.

Apart from plants we bought from a garden centre, we were also given some grassy reed and 15 snails from a friend's pond. This grassy introduction proved extremely productive!

Although we wanted a wildlife pond, we put our three tank goldfish in the pond too - they deserved it! After just a few weeks the goldfish started to grow, and they are roughly double the size they were when we first introduced them. Not only that, we have two baby goldfish too!

Even with the fish, the pond attracts wildlife. The reed must have introduced some of the life in the pond, but we have:

• water boatmen - I love watching them but I've yet to hear them 'sing'
• pond skaters - they confused us! We had one and it died quite quickly, but within a week there were 20 mini skaters. And we've had several generations since
• great diving beetle - I was delighted to see this as I remember taking my son on a primary school trip to Fowlmere and them being so excited about finding one
• whirlygig beetles - these little guys zoom around the pond like little manic jewels
• dragonfiles - usually southern hawker, but also common darters, brown hawker and I'm sure I saw a golden ringed once! They are a delight, swooping over the pond and eating the gnats. We also have larvae in the pond too
• pond snails - brought to us from another pond, and they've settled in and had babies too
• toads - some large, some small! Frogs as well.

For a pond we only started in May, we're pretty pleased! Sitting by the pond is a great time waster - but it's a lovely way to relax and watch nature up close, in our own garden.

Sometimes you have to get a bit too close - for example when Sheena has to get the pond pump out so we can clean the filter. This does give you an idea of how deep the pond is, though. 

I will attempt to take some photos of the wildlife, but as soon as you get a camera out it's as if they know and do a rapid disappearing act! 

The pond also brings in other wildlife - for the first time ever in the forest we have had a hedgehog in the garden; I know we have a lizard living under the summer house, and with any luck we'll have newts as well in due course. There is a 'bog garden' at the edge of the pond which will no doubt harbour other life, and should be good for when the larva of the dragonflies hatch in the spring. The pond in winter is a delight yet to come.

Spending time by the pond is my favourite mindfulness passtime at the moment. There are things we could have done better in building the pond, but we're both pretty pleased with the way it looks, and most of all the wonderful wildlife that have chosen to make it home.

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• Field day
• A night on the brecks
• Ramsey Canyon

Why is writing so hard?

I am on furlough, on lockdown - I have the internet, a computer, and all the time I need. So why is writing so hard?

I've been trying to figure out why my creative juices are stuck and that is equally confusing. It's not even writer's block, because I haven't sat at the computer to write apart from this blog.

I could reel off a long list of excuses, but what is the reason? I'm trying to work that one out still. I haven't written a song, or a story, for ages. I've written plenty about cancer though, darn it - but that's not creative.

I am being creative though - in wood, in gardening, story telling for the kids (online) and in helping Sheena build things, but my literary creativity is stymied.

So, to prompt myself, here's a poem I am going to write now, with no preparation:

Beech

The tall tree is covered in lime coloured keys
They dance in the wind, long branches bowing and swaying
Oak stands steadfast aside, whilst all are sprinkled with blossom.
Hawthorn, cherry, their white petals snatched by the easterly.
In the forest an oak cracks and tumbles.
Ivy clings as the tree descends, but it cannot stop the fall.
The ivy killed the tree. The tree died. The ivy has lost it's home.

Full bodied ash are catching up with the oak, beech and birch.
They are fighting their own battle, whilst the pines grow
And the cones pop in the warmth and tumble to the ground.
So much life and death in the trees. So much new growth
So many changes, as each season sends new sap rising
Or old sap drying. And beetles making home in the fallen.

Not sure where I was going with that - just looked out the window. With a bit of work, it could be something decent.

Right, back to the garden...

Desktop birdwatching

Working at home has some advantages, such as having my desk by the front window, next to the bird feeder. Today I put my camera on my desk, and thought I'd see what I might catch with a quick snap or two.

Here's some recent garden visitors:

Male greenfinch

Male chaffinch

Long tailed tit

Blue tit

Robin

George

Coal tit

Gus

Day 21 in the jungle

Well, maybe not day 21, and maybe not a jungle, but sometimes the posts and messages you read on social media make you feel like people out there are in dire straits. As in - they only have enough loo roll to last 17 months, or enough pasta to feed all of the Czech Republic.

I'm not being nasty, it's evident from food and produce shortages that panic buying has impacted the supply chain, and the result will be  they'll have loads of products going past their sell by date.

Wood from the fallen ash

My partner and I are self-isolating - we are both at risk for different reasons. Luckily for us at the moment this is not a problem - we live in a forest and our neighbour is away, so all we see are walkers with dogs passing by and the diligent forestry workers - cutting and transporting the pine (to make into toilet paper perhaps!).

I've hardly been out apart from walks when all the walkers have gone, but we are so lucky that we have a beautiful garden to occupy ourselves, and the biggest pile of wood to chop and stack ready for next winter.

We had plenty of food in stock, and we've  had a delivery from Sheena's son (yes, we'are all sanitised and cleansed from his 2m visit now), so we are pretty well set for a while if needed.

I built another wood store

I am still working from home - work has not stopped and in fact now more than ever we need help; our amazing NHS still rely on the air ambulance services around the country to help save lives every day, we can't put heart attacks and falls and crashes on hold because of Covid-19. I am very proud to be a fundraiser, and very lucky that I can do my job from the middle of a forest.

My main concern is that my upcoming cancer treatment may be delayed - and who knows by how long. Although I'm not overly worried at the moment, the thought of even going to hospital, where the beleagued NHS are struggling to keep themselves and their patients safe, is a little disconcerting.

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Fear
Nature's gift
East Anglian Air Ambulance

Photos (C) Carolyn Sheppard / Sheena Stebbing

Woodland walk

After a rather unhappy start to the week, I went for a walk in the woods last Wednesday morning. The birds were starting their special spring songs and loudly proclaiming their eligibility, and the rising aroma of drying winter leaves, warmed by a light sun, permeated the air.

The dogs were trotting happily, sniffing and shuffling about, noses to the ground around some particularly interesting smell, and ears pricked up and listening to the startled flap of pheasant or pigeon wing, or the tell-tale crack of a bracken stalk under the tread of a timid Muntjack.

The walk was restorative. The air, the sound of the wind in the trees, the sunshine trickling through the pines. It was a beautiful morning and a beautiful walk, with nature around me and the sights and sounds of the natural world flowing into me like a healing elixir.

I'll need more than a walk in the forest, I know, as I embark on a new journey, but living in the woods, walking here and enjoying everything that nature has to offer is going to be very important to me as I enter the next phase of this condition.

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Suffolk lullaby
Two walks

Photos (C) Carolyn Sheppard


And just for fun because I don't want to put a whole new post in just to fit this vid in - here's me playing the weirdest bass ever at the final Shave the Monkey concert back in January.

Nature's gift

There was a crack like thunder, and then a huge thump that shook the ground, the house, the very trees in the forest. The  house screamed as ash-fingers scratched at it's bricks and tore off the gutter and demolished the front light. Well, that's how I imagined it would have felt had we been in the house when the tree came down!

When you live in a house that is mostly heated by one wood burner, then your primary fuel is... well, wood. And dry wood is expensive if you buy it, and to dry it yourself takes time. The ash opposite our house had Chalara, and was looking dead, but the Forestry Commission (who had marked it for removal) thought it was fine. Chalara (ash dieback) starts from the crown, so the roots are usually OK. Apart from us telling them the tree was dead and dangerous, they didn't see any reason to take it down in a hurry.

The track was blocked for over a week until the FC came

There are advantages of living in a forest, but you can't go cutting down trees that belong to the Forestry Commission. And if they fall on you, well, that's an 'Act of God' in insurance terms.

A few weeks ago (mid-Feb) we went away for the weekend back to my little terraced house in Hertfordshire, with it's central heating, and it's snug warmth. And when we came back late Sunday night, we had been delivered a gift. A 45 foot gift.

Fence destroyed, but house fine.

A bit of a destructive gift, for sure, but let's just say we won't be short of wood for a while. And the nice thing about ash is that it burns well, and as the tree was dead, it doesn't need drying out.

Yes the fence was damaged and so was the lawn, but it only brushed the house (like fingers tickling the brickwork), it only took out a little bit of gutter and a light. The poor tree, which was home to nightingales and jays, woodpeckers and squirrels, is gone. The forestry commission )(after more than a week, even though it blocked the lane) came and took it down and sliced it into manageablel chunks (if you are a 14 foot muscular giant, that is).

We have had to cut up the logs they've left. But here are still some huge bits that are going to take several goes with the chainsaw to reduce even into moveable pieces. And the lawn has huge gouts of turf lifted up (one of the branches literally ploughed the ground) and a huge dent where the main trunk hit. The fence had to be replaced, and we will eventualy get round to repairing the lawn - just as soon as I've moved 3 tonnes of timber.

It missed us, it barely damaged the house, and we have a lot of nice burnable wood. I think that's a gift from nature (even if I do end up with bulging biceps from all the chainsawing, heaving and splitting).

Photos (C) Carolyn Causton and Sheena Stebbing

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The gift of snow

I've said it now

Sunday 26 January 2020

If I can write every day – even just a few paragraphs, then I’ll be making progress. I haven’t written properly for a long time, and there are lots of reasons of course, but all of them are just excuses. I love to write, and by not writing I have let a little piece of me deteriorate. Same with song-writing – not just the lyrics, but the music too.

I got stuck in a rut for a while, I have to admit. But my life has changed so much in the last two years – I’m out of that rut, and now I’m looking around at the new horizons. I have not changed my life so much that everything is different, but I can most certainly spend time now doing more writing, and – if I can motivate myself to do so – playing more music.

Last year was untypical to say the least with my partner’s cancer treatment pretty much occupying the whole year in various ways. I did write a bit about our experiences, but it was a different kind of writing – writing to share something intimate and challenging, and to share to help others as well as ourselves.

A blog without a photo is boring.
This is my favourite pine tree.

Cancer treatment has finished, and hopefully Sheena will continue to get stronger and better now that the cancer has gone. But the side effects of the treatments (which only stopped this month) need some recovery time too.

Back to the start of this – that I want to write every day. Writing is like any muscle, you need to use it to keep it strong and flexible. So, I’m limbering up – getting ready to launch back into exercising my writing brain beyond the daily use demanded by work, or the occasional blog.

My plan is to write a novel. Oh yes, everyone has a novel in them we know, but do I have a story, and a loose plot, I just need to work on characterisations, structure and then simply sit down and write. It doesn’t matter if what I write isn’t good enough – it matters only that I write. The more I do so, the more I will improve. I will also ask for critique from those whose opinions I value, sure of their honesty.

If you have a goal you want to achieve, what do you do to pursue it? In a recent training course (which has prompted me to do this), one of the recommendations was ‘affirmations’ – saying out loud to yourself what it is you want to achieve. One colleague put it really simply, “I’ve said it, so I’ll do it”.  I like that.

Hence this rather boring, but important to me, blog. I have said it. I will do it.

Other blog posts related to writing:

Thesisa

Troublesome angels

Time management

Postscript - having looked for a photo to illustrate this post, I think I just might write something about that tree next.

(C) Carolyn Sheppard

Suffolk Lullaby

Oh my, I haven't written my blog since October last year. How remiss of me! Who cares? I do. Why do I care? Because I love writing and I am letting other things distract me. Oh yeah, I'm busy with work and fun, but I'm lazy too.

So this little blog is about something really simple, about the wonderful place I live - near Dunwich, a small village on the East Coast of the UK.

At night I can hear the roar of the sea, and the soughing of the wind in the trees. I call it the 'wind giants' - I imagine them striding through the pines, shaking the trees as they march through, thoughtless for all else but progress from land to sea. I go for long walks with the dogs when it's dark - and I hear the calls of tawny owls, and the frantic flapping of disturbed pheasant and pigeon as the big dog goes chasing them hell for leather.

We hear the bark of the deer - muntjack and red, and the sharp call of the fox, who we often see using our road as his own convenient highway.

When it's damp, the woods release their scent; a fresh wood mould, and the tang of fungi. There is a sharpness when the ferns open, uncurling their fronds and turning the brown undergrowth into a deep carpet of green.

When we sit in our lounge, looking out of the window, we see the squirrels try and defy our latest 'squirrel proof' feeder, and watch the woodpeckers, long tailed tits, marsh, blue and coal tits, swaying as they enjoy the sunflower seeds and peanuts. And sometimes, swooping with deadly speed, we see the sparrowhawk and mourn the loss of one of the smaller birds.

Some Sundays we go to Southwold and walk across the marshes - in summer weather the grass in lush and green, and in the winter we need wellingtons and a careful sense of balance as we negotiate foot-deep swatches. Geese, ducks, lapwing - all circle and land, startled by our presence and the over-enthusiasm of the pack of dogs we and our friends have brought with us to enjoy the exercise.

At home we light the wood burner, and it smokes like a grumpy dragon before sending it's warmth through the room, and through the house. We watch the flames dancing - hypnotised by their colours, their patterns, and the mysteries they suggest. The wood is pine, oak, sycamore - wood that we have cut, that we have split and stacked. Each log is a small testament to our hard work, and we see it go up in flames, delighting and warming us.

Late at night, lying in bed, the wind giants precursor the rain, and the drumming of drops on the window, on the roof, on the grass outside - is a soothing Suffolk lullaby.


Photos: (C) Carolyn Sheppard

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How life changes
The gift of snow
A walk around Fowlmere
Adelong Morning

The Gift of Snow

When the snow comes, it brings many things. Sometimes it brings real hardship, and for those without homes I felt concern, and for those without water I felt sympathy.  For those who have been cut off without supplies, I am so glad that we have a military who are able to respond not just to conflict but to the needs of our people. However, for me the snow that came in the form of the ‘Beast from theEast’ was a gift.

A snowy lane
in the forest

We live busy lives, and taking the time to just enjoy our environment is not always easy. But when you are snowed in, there’s no option.  Of course, you have to be in the right place to be snowed in, and with the right resources, and I was amazingly lucky.

On the Monday evening I headed to Suffolk so that my journey to Norfolk the following day would be easier. Well, I was wrong there!  The journey to Suffolk was fine, only one briefly worrying snow flurry on the way, but the roads and the weather for heading to Norfolk on the Tuesday (even in a four by four) was impossible!  We were stuck in traffic, and then the weather deteriorated and we headed back to the forest. Oh yes, the forest, near the sea! 

We returned home, abandoning the queues of traffic and the journey back to my friend’s house in the forest was much easier. We had plenty of food, plenty of wood (hardly surprising) and the internet. I could work from my temporary home.

Enjoying the snow

I was visiting my new friend, who I didn’t know that well, but who I instantly hit it off with. The first few times we have met we laughed so much; both with a slightly off beat sense of humour and a sense of the ridiculous, we also both love the natural world.  So being snowed in with someone I didn’t know that well (and who didn’t know me well either) was an interesting test of our friendship. Especially as I didn’t actually get home until the Sunday so it wasn't just a day or two.

My friend has two dogs, and dogs love snow when they can run around in it, play in it, and chase each other through the trees and round the garden.  On the Tuesday I phoned my boss – it made sense to work from home, but I also took some time off too. I was in a snow filled wood, I was going to take advantage! (And most of my colleagues hadn't made it to work either, so a lot less emails than usual.)

The time we had together was a gift – we were able to get to know each other better and indeed had a lot more laughs and fun.  From walking in the woods and trying to find the dog after he’d gone tearing off after some (much faster) deer, or chopping wood in the garden with a chain saw and log splitter, the  

I discovered I chop wood left-handed

beauty of the world covered in snow far outweighed the disadvantage of not getting to work.

Snowy tracks told
their own stories

My delight in Suffolk has stemmed from my childhood when I spent many happy holidays near Foxearth (where I also met my first ghosts, aged just 3).  My week being snowed in near Southwold has only confirmed my love for this beautiful county.

All photos (C) Carolyn Sheppard

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When it snows

A walk round Fowlmere

Jerry the Knife, Colonol T and Bob

When it snows

In the UK snow is a novelty. Sometimes it's a disaster, sometimes it's a welcome diversion. Today it snowed and, being a Sunday, most people seemed very happy to enjoy the opportunity to not do what may have been planned, but to wrap up warm and go outside.

Walking from where I live towards the heath there is a small hill approaching the station. It was slippy and several of us stopped to help push cars up the slope. It wasn't the best day to drive really, but it was quite fun pushing the Porsche (although I did get spattered in grey snowy sludge as it's wheels spun).

There was an air of pleasantry - people tugging kids on sleds, dogs eagerly trotting in smart coats, adults in hats and gloves and generally most people were smiling and willing to say good morning and look you in the eye, conspiratorial in the joy of snow.

When I reached the heath there were lots of people sledging and just having good old fashioned fun. Snowball fights, large mounds of snow being rolled in anticipation of snowmen, and dogs excitedly rushing around, chasing irretrievable snow balls. 

The sound on the heath was beautiful - the shouts and calls of happiness: people having fun in the open air,  and the echoes of voices bouncing off the low cloud whilst it continued to snow.  In the woods the sound was muffled, with the occasional 'swoosh' of snow falling from branches (and catching me unawares sometimes as if snowballed by the trees); the call of a wren, a robin, and some great tits dancing above me backgrounded by the distant calls of humanity.

I felt so peaceful being on the heath, walking through the woods in the snow.  I have many happy memories of being on the heath with my children - sledging and building snowmen - and I cherish this wonderful place that is fabulous for people and wildlife both winter and summer.

More photos here: Flickr All pictures (C) me.

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Two walks
A walk on the wild side
A night on the Brecks

Two walks

On Saturday I took my daughter’s dog out for a walk in nearby woods. She snuffled amongst the undergrowth, sniffing each piss-glistened leaf, rummaging through the debris for scents and stories – doggie social media.

I crunched along the path, beech nut husks brittle, new fallen leaves crisp, earlier casualties slippery with dew and ripe for rotting.  The ground was green with nettles and ivy, and the wind turned from autumn chill to cold winter gusts. 

On Sunday I took her on a walk in the fields of Hundon.  The sky was bright, the air clear and clean – lacking only the hint of snow to make it perfect.  Let off the lead the little dog ran helter skelter along the muddy path, letting off steam whilst also stopping to investigate each intriguing odour.

Tonight she lies sleepily – doggie dreams twitching her paws. Whilst my cat awaits his chance once again to show her that she is the interloper. It won’t be for long, she’ll go home soon, but she’s had a few adventures with me.

Photos (C) Me.

Liked this? Try  No queue at Kew

No queue at Kew

A few weeks ago, one typical British summer day (wet and warm), my friend and I spent the day at Kew Gardens. My last visit there was around 1969 or 1970. I remember going on a school trip from Queenswell School in Barnet, with our teacher Mr Smith asking for “22 tuppences please” from the Conductor.  Though we had to queue to get in back then, thanks to my friend booking in advance, we didn't have to in 2016.

The Hive

We enjoyed wandering round the garden and saw the Hive, an impressive art installation mimicking nature in design, and powered by the energy of the bees. The Great Palm House is exactly as I remember it, and the borders full of flowers beautiful and fragrant.  I remember very clearly bringing home a postcard of a Bottlebrush flower for my mother, and her delight as it was a flower she'd known as a child in South Africa.

I didn't see any flowering bottle brush this time, but I was particularly happy to see the ‘Heritage Trees’ – those mighty personalities that have stood witness to hundreds of years of history.  I enjoyed ‘meeting’ the Weeping Beech and Turner’s Oak.  Going into Palm house, I looked at a lot of the plants with an different eye, because thanks to the last two years of my job, I have a greater understanding of their importance as medicines.

Plants provide so much medicine for humanity – both in their natural state and as the basis for pharmacological medicines too.  I’ve learned a lot about how wild plants provide a natural pharmacopeia for millions of people who have no access to modern medicine, and how many rely on wild plant harvesting for their livelihoods as well. 

Here’s a few that I saw at Kew, with a little bit about some of their amazing properties:

The barrel cactus is used generally as a food and a medicine.
I first saw them this size in Arizona at the beautiful
Desert Botanic Garden.  (I learned a lot about cacti in Arizona!)

Magnolia - the bark and the centre of the flowers are used
extensively for cough and other medicines.
It's well used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The beautiful, tall and elegant Corsican pine is
used to make turpentine – all resin from pine trees is
antiseptic (hence it’s a typical ‘flavour’ in household cleaners). 
It’s also used to treat kidney and bladder complaints
as well as being useful for skin treatments.

Ayurveda, the traditional Hindu system of medicine,
uses lots of exotic and unusual wild plants.
It also uses black pepper.  The heating properties of
black pepper help digestion and is also a stimulant.
It tastes good too!

Beehive Ginger – what a descriptive name!
The major compound found in this unusual plant has
been found to be an effective cell growth
inhibitor in specific colon carcinoma cells.  

The plane tree – one you will see commonly in
London as (by shedding its bark) it can survive the polluted air! 
Its leaves can be used for sore eyes or made into a
cream for healing wounds.  It’s also handy for
treating dysentery and diarrhoea.

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An overheard conversation
A day at the Botanic Garden 
Plants - a prickly issue for conservation
Kew Gardens
Botanic Gardens Conservation International
TRAFFIC Medicinal and Aromatic plants trade
Wiki - medicinal plants 
Herbcyclopedia
Article in the Guardian on illegal sales of wild plants
 

All photos (C) Carolyn Sheppard