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Have you seen this butterfly?

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  I have been to an art gallery. Not really news in normal times but this is hardly an ordinary stage in our lives. This is the first time I have been to a gallery in 18 months. I am taking things very steadily and slowly in order to keep safe. I have not been to an indoor venue for pure entertainment all these months. This was for pleasure and what a joy it was. We were all spread out and had time alone to look at the exhibits. It is a small, delightful gallery in town. It is a great step forward for me and for the gallery who had an interesting display of local crafts, for their summer show. There were paintings and prints, with stories and poems about valuing our local countryside. The other thing that is occupying me at the moment is the butterfly count which goes on into the first week of next month. The numbers of red butterflies like the red admiral, peacock and tortoiseshell are startling low in our garden. At this time of year, with the warm weather we have had, I should b
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It's Not A Boy! Chapter 9, Still Waters - Part 1

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Just out! My new chapter called Still Waters, part 1 - everything was going smoothly until...
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Not quite the freedom we thought

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  Freedom at last! We can go out and enjoy ourselves. But I am concerned about COVID like most of us. I am not sure that I will be doing anything very different except, as a sign of our (tenuous) newly found freedom, our gate on the drive will be open during the day. For 18 months people have read the notices not to pass that line and to leave parcels on the drive. Mind you, the gate being open is only symbolic. Not many will be in the garden and no one in the house, except us. But we are going out to interesting places in Shropshire. Our last adventure was to Prees Heath nature reserve in north Shropshire. Prees Heath means ‘brushwood’ and that is a good description for this disused WW11 airport and common. The land is shallow, untouched and covered in wildflowers like St John’s wort, bird’s foot trefoil, fireweed, and heather. A purple and yellow mass which provides the ideal haunt for the silver studied blue butterfly. It is rare. In fact, it is so rare that Prees Heath is the o
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it's Not A Boy! Chapter 8, Holidays - Part 3

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I am lost in Scarborough on our Sunday school trip and must decide what to do.
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Robin on my Teacup, Country Calendar - July Part 2 - The ugly caterpillar

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Look out for this caterpillar in you garden this July
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Bird strike and squirrel strike

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  We have had a bird strike. I thought that it only applied to ‘planes, but apparently not because that is what the engineer told me. Yesterday, I saw a huge flock of corvids – the crow family – targeting a buzzard overhead. Crows and buzzards have increased here, and flocks of crows maraud over the fields looking for food. Their nests are clearly visible in the tall trees and the buzzard is frequently heard circling overhead with its mewing cat call. It is not so long ago that we would go out and stare in wonder if we heard a buzzard. The wood pigeon population has also increased. There are lots of nests here in most tall shrubs. So, we have three types of birds that are on the increase, whilst the kestrel and curlew are in severe decline. Last night our electricity went off suddenly. A quick ring round our neighbours revealed that their power was off too. I rang the emergency number; it was lucky that it was a summer’s night with no need for heating and no worries about lightin
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It's Not A Boy! Chapter 8, Holidays - Part 2

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Going on a holiday can be dangerous, would it have been better to stay at home?
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