How to care for someone who cannot tell you where hurts This has been my most requested post and there seems no better time to write it than as we enter the colder months, amidst the coronavirus pandemic. I am a mother of five and two of my sons have profound non-verbal autism with high…
Tag: coronavirus
Almanac: Fallow deer, uncurling ferns and foxgloves
Barely a drop of rain has been felt for over eight weeks. My 12 year old son and I have decided to make the most of this last day of sunshine, before the much-longed for storm arrives tomorrow. If we take the footpath that winds through the fields, to the north of our village, it…
Almanac: How to scare a storm away
The air is heavy when we awaken, there must be a storm coming. I open the skylights and a sudden gale whistles down the stairwell. My autistic 11 year old, still in pyjamas, is absolutely delighted. He sets up directly underneath the velux with an old Thomas the Tank Engine book and watches as the…
Almanac: VE Day, bunting and a street party
It is the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. We wake up to blue skies and sunshine and set to work tidying the front garden, whilst our resident house martins dart around us, swooping down from the eaves. Repurposed paper fans and rugby flags decorate the iron railings. Our son’s homemade Union flag takes…
Almanac: Storm chasing, lichen and muddy boots
I welcome the promise of rain. Our plants desperately need it and I can feel the storm coming. The air feels heavy, the sky seems closer. It is only midday and yet the familiar bright tones of the garden seem washed out in the dim half-light belonging to dusk. As the clouds roll over the…
Potager Garden: April 2020
If summer brings to mind old English roses, then springtime must be the month of apple blossom. By the first week of April we glimpse the bright red buds starting to unfurl. I have never been so glad of our small patch of green space, for in this national lock-down it allows us to spend…
Almanac: Leafy canopies, wild flowers and a woodland glade
A late afternoon in April. It is the hour of long shadows and changing light; the best time to see the hidden glade. A gentle breeze drifts across the farm fields as we make our way towards the woodland. In comparison to the areas of ancient forest nearby, our local wood is small, only 30…
Almanac: An early morning hike through English farmland
This morning I am up early, pulling on my walking boots and heading out into the fields before the day has fully started. The natural world seems so alive to me in springtime. The hedgerows stretch upwards towards the blue skies, straining to grow. I instinctively want to steer clear of the nettles that are…
Potager Garden: Simple water meditations in the garden
I miss spending time in the forest during this coronavirus lockdown. Finding ways of replicating the sense of peace and wellbeing that the woodlands give me, really helps ease the longing to be back there. Just after a light April shower is the perfect time for mindfulness in the garden. There is such calmness in…
Potager Garden: Stream watching, borrowed hats and precious food
We continue adapting to this new, quiet time in our lives. I am noticing little changes. Food, for example, is suddenly becoming very important due to the shortages. We seem to talk about it a lot more than normal. Our autistic sons have very restrictive diets, therefore we are saving all of the plain items…
Almanac: Sunshine, doorstep parcels and fresh air
In the national lock down, we are all permitted to leave the house for exercise and fresh air once a day, as long as we keep our distance from those that are not from our household. Today is the perfect spring day; warm like summer, with a gentle breeze. I’m walking with my ten year…
Potager Garden: The unearthly quiet, rabbit clouds and bare feet
We have spent the last week preparing for the shut down that we knew would be coming. It started fully today. Our business is now on hold and the charity library where I am a trustee has shut its doors on government orders. Even though we already worked from home whilst educating our five children,…
Tiny Potager 