Wildlife, sleep.

The perfect tonics?

Ain't wildlife grand?!

My goodness... you know when I said that I always see something cool when I am out for a walk in the wilds, well IT IS TRUE. Gabriella and I went out for what turned out to be about a 6 or 7 miler yesterday and we explored a place I have been wanting to venture into for almost 20 years. It was like a magical HAVEN!!! Literally moments after we ventured off the road to head into the privately owned teeny tiny wilderness we were treated to the most incredible sightings.

Gabby was startled by a huge bird, carrying something in it's talons. We figured probably a buzzard but it went into the trees and we couldn't see it. So we adjust our positions by heading off-trail and saw it emerge from the trees. Enormous! A really hefty buzzard, probably a female, carrying... A GRASS SNAKE. We froze, naturally, and we watched until it flew out of sight. We shifted position again and saw the bird perched on an enormous, fallen oak limb. It sat, and did nothing. I figured it was resting before heading back to the nest to feed it's young. And then it happened... a young bird burst out of the canopy above the fallen limb, joined the older bird, and relieved it of its quarry! The mature bird, clearly a parent helping it's young to branch out, had brought a food parcel for its infant. Super exciting!!! And we were privileged enough to have seen it!

The treasures continued to reveal themselves during our exploration of this miniaturised wildscape... reed buntings, whitethroats and blackcaps. Woodpeckers, and mystical cormorants. Bullfinches, mistle thrushes, swifts and swallows. Giant, grey herons, and tiny wrens. Incredible wildflowers, and pole-dancing reed warblers on their phragmites apparatus... Oh my!

As if that wasn't enough, on the return journey, we were treated with a mole crossing our path too, something I had only a few days previous been talking about to a pal having NEVER seen a live one in the open. I have now!

We'd headed out early-ish to avoid the heat of the day having Dash with us I had brought along plenty of water but it wasn't needed - our route was punctuated with lots of doggy-slurping opportunity - rivers and ditches, and marshes, and pools. Although the shade in the early part of the walk was lacking, on the return journey it was abundant. Dash was in his element throughout - I had taken him out on his training lead - about 30 feet long, so he could at least get a flavour of being off-lead. He loved bounding through the deep grass.

Such a rich walk, and in good company too - a real tonic. Something to be thankful for.

I was back just in time for a bit of a rest before getting lunch, and then Linda headed out on her walk with Sarah and the girls. Turns out they ventured quite close to the trails we had explored in the morning. A brilliant day of exploration... except for Ashley - who has become something of a hermit. We practically have to force him to get out of the house at the moment.

The weekly quiz went well, we were second out of three teams, and I really enjoyed the questions. Some GREAT geography ones. Amy did a great job! Thanks Amy!

The woodlands project got some sky-time and I have outlined the concept on 'paper' so that I can develop it further when I have the time. It's nice to have a project i can dip in and out of without any time pressures. I think it might become a really nice part of what I do over the coming months and years.

I took time to snooze in the afternoon. Do you ever make time for a daily doze? I find it super-beneficial to just replenish myself - I think everyone should do it! The Spanish siesta concept would absolutely suit me. Which got me thinking...

SLEEP, AND 'OVERTHINKING'

Sleep is so important - yet it escapes so many people! If you are struggling to get to sleep, it is REALLY important that you find some time to actually get some headspace during the day. I went through a period of not being able to sleep because I used to let my job spill over into the evenings by checking my work mobile constantly. I stopped doing that after I had left the office and that helped instantly - not fully, but instantly. I began to sleep better because I removed the likelihood of something cropping up that I could do nothing about until I returned to work.

I also found that being comfortable and able to allow thoughts to come and go without trying to wrestle them out of my mind was HIGHLY beneficial. Being comfortable with what your mind is doing is something that seems to trouble a lot of people and it certainly used to trouble me. I eventually learned how to be comfortable with my thoughts by using the Headspace App for ten minutes a day. My boss put me on to it some years ago and I find myself using the principles even now. Spending ten minutes on your own version of being conscious of every thought, and allowing those thoughts to come and go without judging them, is SO VALUABLE.

If you haven't come across Andy Puddicombe, I recommend you read his book "Get Some Headspace" before downloading the free app. I'll say no more about that for now, but I will revisit the subject in the future because of how important it is. In the meantime, though - some sky-time is a great substitute. And what a sky we have at the moment!

All this talk about sleep has me thinking... I might install a day-bed in the office! :-D

Have a beautiful, restful day today. Enjoy the sunshine, and maybe even... have a doze...

Big Love. X