You know you had a good walk when you arrive home with your pockets full of treasure but without your keys!
Ireland
Winter Walk with Ancient Alders
Walking in a wooded area in the middle of winter is such an enriching experience. There aren’t any wildflowers stealing the show, except for a lonely herb robert, but there are so many other wonderful things to see. Ferns, lichens, fungi, and tiny new plants poking through the thick carpet of alder leaves. This new … Continue reading Winter Walk with Ancient Alders
Gift From a Stranger
There were six rose bushes in the garden when we moved into our new rental house in December. This is unusual. Rental gardens are often bare and low maintenance. The roses were pruned back for the winter so I had no idea what to expect. As spring turned into summer they surprised and delighted me … Continue reading Gift From a Stranger
The Gull House – Suburban Seagulls and Life in Dublin
One morning I opened the patio curtains and there, in the centre of the small patch of frozen grass and weeds that is our lawn, was a slice of bread. It seemed unnaturally large and white lying there under the late winter sky. I was puzzled. Surely the cats wouldn’t bother stealing bread. Or would … Continue reading The Gull House – Suburban Seagulls and Life in Dublin
Thoughts on Moving House and How We Fill Our Lives
Early morning - 05:00. I’ve always been an early bird but, at the moment, as a parent to a young child, my internal clock doesn’t always align with my need for more sleep. Usually, when I’m awake at 05:00, I’m awake for good and I might as well get something done. So here I am, … Continue reading Thoughts on Moving House and How We Fill Our Lives
Finding Wildflowers the Old Fashioned Way
After ten months of identifying wildflowers in Ireland, I think it’s time to give a brief overview of how I go about this process. The first question most people ask me is, ‘Do you use an app?’ No, I haven’t used an app. Yet…
5 Things I Needed After Lockdown: Finding Wildflowers in August
A change of scenery. Headspace. Being reminded of the bigger picture. Friends. Family. These are the things that restored my energy in August. Work, childcare, studying, laundry, meals… the cyclic routine of our everyday lives, good and normal things, started feeling exhausting after the lockdown...
Wildflowers in June and July – The Garden as Teacher
Gardens are teachers. The joy and satisfaction I experience when I spend time in my garden come from a deeply rooted relationship. As I tend my garden, it tends me and my need to nurture, create, and build a relationship with nature, or the non-human world. I tend sick plants, plant seedlings, water pots, add compost. I decide where to create borders, which plants to thin, how to prune shrubs and trees, how often to deadhead flowers. But the garden has a life and agency of its own...
In-Between Spaces and Waiting Places: Identifying Wildflowers in May
But waiting is part of life, for all things, and there’s value in waiting too. Waiting, either actively or passively, is simultaneously an act of acceptance and resistance and anticipation. Accepting the discomfort of uncertainty, yet resisting the urge to become stuck while anticipating change.
Whispering Trees and Forget-Me-Not Skies: Finding Wildflowers in April
It's hard to live far away from your family during the pandemic and the distance feels immense when you need to process a loss or grief. So, I keep walking, despite the fickle weather. I keep writing, despite the stale words. And I look for wildflowers and listen to whispering trees.
Wild Library 