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Mind Body Plus Me!

~ Musings and Inspirations towards Holistic Health

Mind Body Plus Me!

Tag Archives: Nature

Happy Earth Day!

22 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by mindbodyplusme in Holistic Health, Nature & Gardening

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Happy Earth Day, Health, Inspiration, love, Nature, Sharing, Thoughts

It seems odd to me that we have a day to celebrate virtually everything you can think of! That said, Happy Earth’s Day to you all!

I am finding it difficult to spare the time to update this site, but I do intend to keep it going, and I would like to thank you all who continue to contact me having read some of my older posts, it is appreciated, and nudges me to try and find more time!

So, Earth Day – it is rare to find people who truly respect, appreciate, and share the importance of the Earth in their everyday life. But as black and white as it possibly can be, Earth is paramount to our daily breath. Obvious I know, but translated a few times, ask yourself, when did you last focus purely on the Earth we stand on . . . hmm you see, it’s a phenomena that raises a smile on peoples faces.

Seeing today has been chosen as a special day to remind ourselves about the importance of the Earth, spend a moment looking at the surface of this Earth; feel it with bare feet,  smell it, touch it; widen your gaze and look at the sheer magnificent beauty of it. How it sustains life not only for us, but for every other creature on the planet, every living plant and organism. Everything we know relates back to the Earth. If you let your mind wander and your imagination time to ignite, the concept becomes even more ‘mind blowingly’ magnificent! We are so small, almost like a grain of sand in the grander scale of the planet, probably not even that! And we only exist within the tiniest depth of the Earth’s surface, so, how small do you feel now?!

Many of us love our lives, love our gardens; our walks in the countryside, our expeditions to more adventurous pursuits; love every minute we get to spend looking out of the window watching birds or butterflies, or simply admiring the view of flowers, trees, far reaching views, the sea, hills, rolling wolds, mountains, the list goes on. We have such diverse scenery, wildlife, plant life, we should be thankful and grateful with every breath we take.

Being mindful, and living in the moment we are in does bring a harmony within our souls, only possible when you engage with the Earth and all it offers around us.

Enjoy your day appreciating and loving the Earth, that boost of love today, can only help in healing the many scars we have given the planet. We need to give back instead of taking and living with an ignorance that it will always just be there without any thought and care given. We are only here for such a small amount of time, which flies by faster every year; lets make it our mission to embrace and better the Earth around us in any, and every way we can. It is precious and we owe everything to its existence, literally!

Happy Earth Day!

Druantia

Autumn . . .

05 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by mindbodyplusme in Nature & Gardening

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Autumn Colours, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Natures Beauty

The weather here has changed quickly, from nice very late summer days where the sun was still warm enough to sit out in, into cold days and nights. The beauty of nature is hitting us in the face everywhere you look. The leaves on the autumnal change are field-mapleabsolutely gorgeous. I love taking photos and all the ones I put on this site are taken locally. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been clicking photos every time I go outside, I love it!

holly-treeHawthorn hedges laden with berries, Holly trees covered in berries, if nature was telling us something, it would be saying we are in for cold winter, and the berries are there to feed the birds in readiness of the impending chill.
hawthorn-berries

Field Maple trees have shone with their bright yellow leaves, the Beech with their fiery copper shades, Hydrangeas with their deep reds, and the red leaves of the Rhus tree always look stunning against clear blue skies. The colours are ahydrangeabsolutely fabulous, and if you take your time to look, there is virtually every shade you can imagine out there in nature, truly stunning. Fuchsia late red and purple exotic looking flowers add a delicacy to the otherwise dying back garden; as does the Sedum, and Verbena.fuchsiaWe still have roses flowering and producing new buds. The ground is a carpet of leaves in the most beautiful golden palette of colour, from the Sycamore, Cherry, Beech. The Crab apples are still

DSC01299on the tree, rose hips are huge on the rosa rugosa bushes; I could fill the page with photos, but will pick only a few, and hope you enjoy them too!

Take a look outside, before the colour spectacle has gone . . .  until next year!

Druantia

Our Butterflies . . .

11 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by mindbodyplusme in Holistic Health, Nature & Gardening

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Butterflies & Bees, Flowers, Gardening, Nature

 

IMG_1308.jpg

Small Tortoiseshell

On The News yesterday it was stated that nationally our native butterflies are in a definite decline. We do have some beautiful butterflies, and moths actually, which always seem to get forgotten, so to think they are struggling more than ever is very upsetting.

We have a field round our ‘nature inspired garden’ that we leave alone, apart from cutting a walk able path round it. There are a few wild flowers which are self seeded, so 80% grasses. We do not cut this grass, it does its own thing and has established itself into an incredible weave of protection for wildlife as well as being beautiful to look at. We planted some trees and shrubs all producing flowers and berries, again planted with wildlife in mind. During the summer when the grasses are in flower, the soft colours are simply fantastic, from mauve heathery colours to salmon pink, to golden corn shades, really gorgeous, and because there is so much of it, the waves of soft muted colours is truly a beautiful summer treat; and very importantly, it is full of all kinds of wildlife all year round.

There are beds of thistles, which this summer were smothered by hundreds, and I do mean, hundreds of butterflies, moths and bees. I have never seen so many butterflies ever, and not just for a one-day wonder, but for days and weeks, the number of butterflies was utterly amazing. So I am very pleased our tiny corner of the world has helped the butterfly population here at least.

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Marbled White

The reason for the national decline is unknown. The weather did cool right off when butterflies were usually at their most prolific, so maybe it was down to that. Farmers will no doubt get some blame as always. But the bigger picture must surely be looked at when pointing the finger towards farmers. Yes, I am biased, but I am also not a fan of commercially driven farming. Huge fields, the chemicals, the ‘chemically dressed’ seeds, the fast field rotation are all aspects I do not endorse at all. Nor GMO but that’s another subject. I favour the organic, nature based farming. Nature and Mother Nature should be embraced and enhanced, not rewritten and manipulated, it will always win in the end!

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Painted Lady

Anyway, to list some of what we had here this year:

Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Green Vein Whites, Marble Whites, Painted Ladies, Large and Small Whites, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Large and Small Skippers. And so many different moths many of which were daytime ones, I wouldn’t know how to identifying them. The above mentioned are what I have decided we had, I am no expert so my identification of some species may not be correct. We did see a Ruby Tiger Moth, which was stunning. I didn’t see this year however, either a Comma or a Humming Bird Hawk Moth. We have a tiny lavender blue butterfly every year that I am yet to identify.

 

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Ruby Tiger Moth

Check out the Butterfly Conservation website, it gives loads of information from identifying to what plants to use in your garden to attract more of them.

butterfly-conservation.org

See if there are some butterfly and bee friendly plants, trees and shrubs that can add to your garden. It would appear both butterflies and bees are in desperate need of all of our help. Besides the sight of beautiful butterflies and the sound of bees completes the perfect summer scene!

Even now, when the summer is fast leaving us, we can still help the hibernating species survive by providing suitable sites, get to the gardens folks and do your bit whilst the last few butterflies take advantage of the late summer sun!

Druantia

 

 

Humming-Bird Hawk Moth

10 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by mindbodyplusme in Nature & Gardening

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Flowers, Gardening, Humming-Bird Hawk Moth, Nature

Hummingbird Hawk Moth
This is the first summer I have not seen this stunning moth in our garden on the Red Valerian which we have in clumps all over the garden. We have been invaded by rabbits this year, the adults seem to bring in their young and leave them in our garden like using a creche! Consequently, they have devoured many of the plants, red valerian being a particular favourite. So I’m not sure why we haven’t seen these moths, we have still got a lot of the red valerian, but it has been slightly out of synch this summer, so maybe the flowers were not available at the right time of July.

I remember years ago seeing this Hawk-Moth for the first time and was convinced I’d seen a Hummingbird! I have been to Canada and seen Humming Birds there, so seeing these Moths always remind me of British Colombia and the Rockies!

Nature is full of breath taking beautiful things, this little soul is one such gem.

Druantia

Our Friends, Dogs . . .

10 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by mindbodyplusme in Holistic Health, Nature & Gardening

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Best Friends, Communication, Dog Psychology, Dogs, Inspiration, Life Experiences, Nature, Sharing

MegI love dogs and have always had dogs around me through my life. One in particular, a black Labrador, was like the child I never had. We had an extra ordinary connection, and she was exceptional in everyway. She sadly left us when she was 14 ½ years old, having put up a strong and valiant fight to stay with us longer. If I could have given her new legs, she would probably still be with us, well, no not really, she would have been coming up 18 years old! One of the amazing things I noticed about her, was she rarely looked me in the eye; it was always at my third eye point, (between my eyebrows on the forehead). She would gaze adoringly at me, and seemed to connect with something that captivated her, and made her bond deeply with me. We shared daily adventures together, some of the best walks I’ve ever had, and some of the specialist downtime together, just her and me; absolutely loved her to bits and still do several years on . . .

Read the rest of this article in the Pages Section

Druantia

A Morning Treat

01 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by mindbodyplusme in Holistic Health, Nature & Gardening

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Holistic Health, Inspiration, Kestrel Falcon, Life Experiences, Nature, Nature & Gardening, Thoughts, Yogic Exercise

Common_kestrel_falco_tinnunculus

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

This morning as, I partook in my daily yoga based stretches outside, taking full advantage of the beautiful sunshine, I was serenaded by two Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) in the trees of our field.

Whilst I couldn’t really see them, only glimpse of their courtship display flight when it appeared over the garden hedge, but their chatter was loud and constant and filled the sky. It made me pause to just listen . . . it’s probably a little late in the season to be mating for another brood, but it has been very warm, in the 20s everyday for weeks now, so maybe more chicks will be on the way.

The sheer wonder of nature yet again infiltrating my daily life, such things make my day, and these two will resonate with me the whole day, love it and appreciate how lucky I am! Beautiful moments stay with you . . .

Druantia

Flowers . . .

31 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by mindbodyplusme in Nature & Gardening, Thoughts & Words

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Communication, Inspiration, Nature, Nature & Gardening, Poetry, Thoughts, Words

The flowers of all your tomorrows lie

in the seeds you sow today

For every action there is a reaction and a consequence; think with care of what you do, for tomorrows daylight may shine on the deeds you set today

 

Druantia

 

 

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