curiosity about the ways of the world
Windpower, wildlife, water and woodland gardening
“I just enjoy being among the mountains, that’s good enough, I don’t need to get to the top…” Ronnie Faux, born Burnley 8 November 1935, died Carlisle 16 July 2024.
Before this turbulent 2024 ends, there’s still just time to add one more tree story. We have planted a Himalayan birch in memory of our dear friend Ronnie Faux. It seems a good match for an adventurer who enjoyed clinging to rocky ridges in snowy places.
Continue readingAutumn on the horizon. Will we know the difference? It has felt like October for much of the summer this year. But today a mischievous sun peeks through fluffy clouds (such flirts!) and in the garden I find a buzz of pollinators partying among the plants. Great opportunists. True survivors. Perhaps they can help me plot a course for 2025.
Continue readingUp with the lark? Sadly, after a week of waking before the alarm went off, this morning we slept in. By the time I poked my head out the front door George and Ben had been at work for an hour. Early birds, of course! These very nice young BTO volunteers are here to count and ring Pond Cottage songbirds. And, oh, what a great start it is to our day!
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Planting a tree is to have hope for the future…
The old oak tree
The story so far. On a sunny afternoon in May a small group gathered among the trees at Pond Cottage to explore how storytelling can reconnect people with the natural world. And what we all gain when we do.
Continue readingIt was a gentle afternoon. No workshops, no break outs, no lectures, and certainly no rants. Just a meandering walk and talk through paths and clearings of our almost natural woodland, sharing thoughts about trees, birds, bats, butterflies. And how much we all enjoy being in a place where you can hear birds sing.
Continue readinglook: I am still alive –
The Wishing Tree: Kathleen Jamie
in fact, in bud.
Come gather round. We’re inviting a small group of pioneers for a first storytelling event among the trees of Pond Cottage. On Saturday 25 May Dr James Bonner of Strathclyde University will introduce an inspiring project connecting trees, people and places.
Continue readingA sight we love to see. The wild plum tree blossoming by the gate to Pond Cottage is now 30 years old and the older it gets the more beautiful it grows. It stands as a warm welcome to all visitors and once again we’re looking forward to welcoming Scotland’s Gardens Scheme explorers. We have enticing plans for the new season.
Continue readingHere we are at the start of a new season. Though of course the promise of a new season has been poking through the ground since Christmas. Now there are snowdrops everywhere I look but they are being nudged and jostled by bright yellow sploshes of narcissi. Bluebells and wild garlic are racing to catch up. Which season are we in, exactly?
Continue readingAnother storm brewing, I’m teetering on the edge of despair when up comes a cheery message from Scotland’s Gardens Scheme. The new guide book is out and we can find our entry online too. I wrote the Pond Garden entry but now I’m wondering if I got it right…
Continue readingA sudden fall. Opening the door, I find the ground is littered with leaves: birch, oak, lime, maple, hazel, blackthorn, dogwood… all making a lovely mess on the newly laid paths, helped by foraging black birds, blue tits, and red squirrels.
Continue readingI’m posting an extract from the Scotland Grows article kindly commissioned and published as a Reader’s Garden feature for December. Trees Mean Home is their heading and it takes on special meaning this treacherously stormy winter. Trees are the reason we bought our ten acre plot 30 years ago. In a rapidly changing climate we value their shelter more than ever.
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