30 Days Wild : Days 9 to 14

Better late than never?!! Life has been so busy, I feel like I just can't keep up with everything this month!

On day 9 of 30 Days Wild I visited the elderly lady I visit for the first time in months. She's almost 90 and other than a son and her elderly sister, doesn't have any family so she loves to have another person to talk to and get out with. I have dropped off the odd bit of shopping for her of course but this was the first time we've got together since lockdown. She lives in Rudyard so we walked 3.5 miles lakeside.

Day 10 was an outdoor cup of tea on the moors. A chilly, windy and showery evening, but good to get out for half an hour in the evening.

Finally had a proper bit of rain here on day 11, Raindrops on the brook this evening 🙂  The sound of running water and a little splash was just what I needed!

I visited my sister's garden on Day 12 and watched bumblebees visiting scabious whilst giving her a bit of pond advice (she's created a pond during lockdown!)

Today I visited Ma & Pa's garden (as I needed to borrow a tool) and hung out with the bees and chickens and enjoyed the scent of the roses for a bit before heading home to do more work in my own garden.  

We were laying edging between the grass / patio ahead of a big gravel delivery next week to fill the gabs between the slabs. Far too hot to be outdoors really but we got the job done!

The garden is finally getting tidied up, becoming a nicer space and - of course - we're making it more wildlife friendly :)

The wildest I got for day 14 was catching the sunset (and spotting a few kestrels earlier) but I did also order my pond for the garden!! I thought this was a project for next year but had an offer of help with some of the garden work, so I'm going with it!

I'm hoping to get caught up and stay caught up for the remainder of June now! 

30 Days Wild : Days 4 to 8

It has been a busy few days for me, hence getting behind on posting, though I've not had a lot to share really so it doesn't matter, you haven't missed much! 

Day 4 I spent in the garden, pulling up the last of old patio slabs and weeding it ahead of laying new slabs. I noticed elder flowers on their way too. 

On Day 5, my sister came over to help lay the new patio. I'm not able to do as much myself at the moment so couldn't have managed without her.  In the photo below she was doing a 'wobble test' on that slab.

The new patio slabs are laid but finishing the job is on hold until more supplies arrive (I wanted spaced out slabs with gravel between rather than a 'properly' done cemented job as this way is better for the insects (so many beetles, ants and spiders lived in the cracks between the old slabs!). Now awaiting gravel samples to arrive so I can choose a gravel that matches well enough before I order a bulk bag.

I fancied a change of scenery in the evening so had a little drive and visited a favourite tree I haven't seen for a couple of years! It used to be one I passed sometimes depending on which lanes I chose to travel to school, but since leaving school life behind, I've not had need to travel this way.

I had a bit of a lazy day on Day 6... the weather was a bit wild; very wet and windy but I enjoyed cloud watching as the sky was changing so fast.

Day 7 featured some nature reading and catching a sunset in the evening after the sun came out. 

Yesterday, Day 8, I got back on the garden work.  The next project is building a small wall in a back corner of the garden. 

In this corner of the garden, I always find lots of these centipedes (as well as earwigs and other creatures!)

 Whenever I've worked in the garden, I've unearthed all sorts of old bricks and stone plus chunks of mortar and rubble from - I presume - when the extension was build and/or a garage knocked down by previous owners. All the old stone is going to become a habitat / invertebrate wall to make use of it and add more space for wildlife. 

Some of the old patio slabs were used to make a base for the wall.  

It doesn't look great at the moment, I know, but this is just the start!  The inspiration comes from my sisters garden. She also has an area where she unearthed all sorts of bits of stone / brick / cement blobs and so on. She's very keen on using what she finds so built this little wall out of all the rubbish! In the photos, it's still a work in progress.  I was impressed and thought it a great habitat for a range of creatures, so she's coming to use my stone pile (which is very different to hers!) to see what we can create on a similar sort of theme in my garden. 

How has your 30 Days Wild been going? 

I thought I was going to do much better than I have so far, being off work a the moment, but life is still very busy! 

30 Days Wild : Day 3

Just a daily al fresco cuppa in the garden this evening whilst doing some more preparation work.

I have a big pile of random old  rocks, slabs and stones that were dug up in various spots around the garden a couple of years ago and are being saved for future redevelopment (by which I mean improvement) around the pond I'll put in and some wildlife habitats. Moving that from one side of the garden to the other uncovered various insects - some nice big spiders, lots of snails and woodlice and centipedes. Also found a few moth pupae under the old patio slabs, just in sand, which I reburied in a safe spot. 

I didn't see any cinnabar moths today but did spot my first ladybird of the year (in the garden) on the ragwort. 

What did you do on day 3?

30 Days Wild : Day 2

I'm struggling a little this week with 30 Days Wild already! Lockdown and time off work has finally allowed my some time to not only make plans for the garden (it's only been waiting two years!) but actually order some of the things I needed and get cracking on it so that's taking up a chunk of my time at the moment. 

My sister volunteered to help me pull up the old patio (I never liked the slabs I bought with the house) and lay the new stone (largely as she has a use for the old slabs!) as at the moment, although I have all this free time, I can't do these things myself easily (just a temporary hitch!). 

She came over today and so I spent  quite a lot of time outdoors (too much, in the heat, I really don't do well!) but none of it was really dedicated wild time!  

I did however notice that there's absolutely loads of cuckoo spit in the grass now. I also saw my first mirid bug of the year in the garden and spotted a few cinnabar moths on the ragwort that grows wild in different places every year! 

The aim is to have the new patio laid somewhere between Friday and Sunday - hopefully Friday - so the last of the old stone needs to come up and the ground prepped ready for that!