#30DaysWild 2021 – Week 2

We’re now more than halfway through this year’s #30DaysWild, a challenge run by The Wildlife Trusts encouraging people to do one ‘random act of wildness’ each day in June. This week we’ve been slowing down a little and enjoying moments of just sitting in the garden, looking around at the natural world on our doorstep. It’s one of the things I love about #30DaysWild – the way it encourages us to look more closely and every year we have noticed something new as a result. Here’s what we’ve been up to for our second week of #30DaysWild 2021:

 

 

 

Day 10

The day started off quite overcast which didn’t bode well for the chances of being able to observe the partial eclipse. We’d made a pinhole camera with a paper plate and a piece of card in the hope that the sun would break through the clouds. Thankfully the clouds did part for a few moments here and there during the morning so we did get to see the eclipse after all. It’s a shame this didn’t happen last year when we were home-schooling as it would have been such a fantastic learning opportunity for Sophie.

 

 

I always enjoy watching the birds on the feeders and it was lovely to see both adult and baby blue tits enjoying the fat balls. I think this is the first time I’ve noticed the baby birds appearing in the garden. I can always hear when the greenfinches are on the seeds – they’re such noisy feeders cracking the seeds open with their beaks.

 

 

Day 11

A sad day saying our final goodbyes to my husband’s aunt. We had an outdoor wake in my in-laws’ garden after the funeral services. It was lovely to watch Sophie and Thomas having fun with their cousins although it’s always bittersweet too thinking that Jessica should be there too. We don’t see them very often as they live in Luxembourg, but I do love how well the cousins always get on whenever they are together.

 

 

 

Day 12

Sophie had lots of fun making fairy potions in the mud kitchen. We enjoyed catching up with a friend and having a barbecue in the garden. The wild strawberries are now starting to ripen and we harvested the first of these.

 

 

 

Day 13

Sophie was given a bean plant at school to take home just before the half-term holiday. It’s now grown too tall for the windowsill so we planted it out into the fairy garden. It’s seems an appropriate place for a beanstalk to suddenly appear in!

 

 

 

Day 14

We headed over to Denham Country Park for an after-school adventure. Thomas slept in the buggy throughout but Sophie enjoyed her walk through the woods. We collected some sticks and had a game of Poohsticks on the bridge. Sophie couldn’t resist a paddle in the stream to cool off. There were several damselflies darting about and a beautiful banded demoiselle kept flying over and repeatedly settling on Sophie’s hat. She was convinced that it was Jessica being there with her and enjoying the fun. I like that thought too. I have very happy memories of my girls paddling together in this stream during Jessica’s last summer with us. We’ve only experienced a dragonfly/damselfly doing this once before and that was at the Little Hearts Matter memorial service for children lost to CHD, which was a couple of days after Jessica’s funeral.

 

 

 

Day 15

A quiet afternoon sitting in the garden, just watching the natural world around us. We have a couple of robins who regularly visit our garden. It was lovely to see one of them with a noisy little chick in the fairy garden. We also watched a busy bee on the hydrangea and harvested the first of the raspberries from the raspberry bushes.

 

 

Day 16

We headed over to Grandma and Grandad’s garden after Sophie dance classes to gather elderflowers to make elderflower cordial. Sophie helped with the few that she could reach and then enjoyed a ride with Grandad on his mower.

 

 

Have you been joining in with #30DaysWild this year? What activities have you been enjoying?