When I was seven I was given a key to a door. You might be thinking that is rather a young age but I am not talking about a door to a building, it was a membership to the RSPB, to what was then called the YOC (Young Ornithologists Club). I got a magazine every other month which I remember reading from cover to cover each time it arrived through the post. That membership opened a door to a world that I loved and have continue to love to this day.
A few weeks ago my husband and Cameron went on a bike ride one evening, whilst they were out they saw Short Eared Owls hunting, a bird I had never seen. A few days later Alice and I went up to the same spot with my husband to see if we could we could see them too. We were richly rewarded. When I spotted them through my binoculars it was one of those moments when we feel what we are seeing inside, words will just not do. There were four birds in all, possibly two adults and their young hunting. One of them flew incredibly close to us, near enough to see them without using the binoculars, we realised that we were watching them from a spot that the owls themselves use for regurgitating their pellets. They were so beautiful, flying in the setting sun, the rays catching their stunning markings.
One of Alice's friends had a birthday recently, she was able to have an outside gathering of friends. It was a gloriously hot day which was spent in a beautiful place amongst the trees on the side of a hill. A wooden platform built in the trees provided the perfect place to soak up the beauty of the woods, lying on my back watching the fluffy clouds slowly drifting across the sky, so relaxing! We had a walk up to a nearby tarn (a small lake in my part of the world) for a lovely swim to cool off. The views from up there were hazy but magnificent and wonderful to drink up.
We have spent time in other lakes and rivers swimming, the view of the water giving a totally different perspective of the world. I have been amazed at how long I have been able to swim without stopping, often in deep water, it is so so different from swimming in a pool. The beautiful scenery makes all the difference too, not quite like the clinical walls of a public swimming pool! It is so relaxing and calming.
The heather is in full bloom here now, in all its purple glory. There are places where it looks like a sea with the wind blowing and creating ripples, the contrast with a moody grey sky was stunning on a recent walk I did with two dear friends. We sat in silence in a stone circle, a really special place, surrounded by the heather, soaking in the beauty of the surroundings being held by it all, circles within circles entwined and supporting each other.
Yesterday was my shopping day. It was so busy in the town, tourist season is in full swing bringing people to the beautiful area that I call home. I do find it exhausting navigating my way through the sea of people, playing a game of dodgems where few people are concentrating. I collected a special item which has been for a repair. At the beginning of lockdown, whilst working in the polytunnel, I managed to snag my gold rope necklace. I realised it was caught on something just a second too late, as I stood up it snapped. I have been without it for weeks, months, a necklace that is always round my neck day after day, I am so happy to have it back with me. It was my granny's, a necklace that she too wore every day, a 40th birthday present from her husband my grandfather, she would have been 101 this year. The necklace is a reminder of her, she is with me all the time, I have missed that comforting presence.
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