It's a lovely evening so we caught a bus over to Corstorphine Hill for a wander. The skies were beautiful
The air was full of birdsong, we heard Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and I think I heard a Whitethroat too. There were several noisy jackdaws around, including these two.
and lots of flowers in bloom, including Forget Me Not
and Ivy Leaved Toadflax
For the last six years of his life, the nature writer Roger Deakin kept notebooks in which he wrote his thoughts, observations and feelings about and around his home, Walnut Tree Farm in Suffolk. This book has collected together the best of these writings, giving insights into his lifestyle and his thinking. Close observations of nature lie side by side with literary criticism, highlights of conversations with friends and details of his tasks around the house and farm. Plus notes for Wildwood, the book he was writing at the time, which wasn't published until after his death.
One critic has described 'Notes from Walnut Farm' as Deakin's 'best book', which seems unfair, as he hadn't intended it as a book (and in fact part of me feels uncomfortable on Deakin's behalf, reading these writings, as they had never been intended for publication.). Having said that, the book does include a lot of very fine writing, which may well be among Deakin's 'best writings':
willing the swifts to return
to prove the globe's still working*
even though fewer arrive
each year.
In Greece they fall
from the clouds in freak storms
and fewer remain
to fly the plague bound skies.
It's early days
for their arrival
but still I wonder
is this the year they won't return?
* the globe's still working taken from Ted Hughes' poem Swifts.
**
previously published in The Poetry Kit.
Our first swift flew over our street last night!
It's Mental Health Awareness Week! The theme for this year is anxiety. You can read more about the week on the Mental Health Foundation website.
It's now well known that spending time in nature can alleviate stress and help us feel happier and more energised! Connecting with nature includes taking the time to stop and appreciate the flowers.
These are the flowers of Green Alkanet, which stays green all year (hence the name!).
This Platycheirus sp hoverfly seemed to be enjoying the flowers!
The Ramsons are still putting on a great show!
In some places, this beautiful plant is being foraged so much that it is disappearing. (Read this informative article in the Guardian, which outlines the problem and gives some tips on sustainable foraging). Not mentioned in the article, is the fact that Few Flowered Leek, which is invasive, can actually be used in just the same ways as can Ramsons. So foraging the invasive species can help preserve the beautiful native species.
Over the past couple of years, I've been paying more attention to mosses, which are beautiful plants and not as difficult to identify as I had first thought they would be! I had to ask the Edinburgh Natural History Facebook group for this one though, which turned out to be Mnium hornum
On Saturday, we took a bus down to Mortonhall Garden Centre to explore the woodland walks round the Mortonhall Estate.
The weather was warm and sunny, it actually felt like Summer! The woodland paths are very pretty
I was very happy when Crafty Green Boyfriend pointed out these cuckoo pints. I have often seen this plant growing, especially when it forms clumps of red berries in the Autumn, but I had never before seen the arums.
I don't really understand why I've never found these before, as they are quite obvious! Perhaps they are very ephemeral or usually hidden by the leaves?
The walk continues along the edge of fields with lovely views of some impressive trees
Several butterflies (mostly Orange Tips and occasional Small Tortoiseshells) were flying around in the fields among the flowers that included Cuckoo Flowers (Ladies Smock)
The walks are all part of the Mortonhall Estate. We've explored part of this estate from a different direction in previous years, but for the first time on Saturday we walked through the beautiful arboretum
There are also some Highland Cattle on the estate
and this Carrion Crow was posing most dramatically
I've been out and about a lot over the past few days and haven't had the chance to update this blog with everything!
I lead a guided walk on Thursday, walking round North Merchiston Cemetery then across to the canal and following the canal to the Re-union Canal boat where we all had a nice cup of tea and a chat! I arrived early in the cemetery and took some photos.
This magnificent lime tree is a distinctive feature of the cemetery
and the Wych Elms are already in fruit
Later that day I spent some time in Crafty Green Boyfriend's mother's garden
Crafty Green Boyfriend is very keen on the idea of No Mow May and is hoping that his brother will continue to be too busy to remember to mow the grass!
There seem to be more Wild Strawberries in bloom than ever
Atticus the neighbour's cat spent time in the garden with me
Today I went to an event about Flax growing, part of Our Linen Stories which is a project of Journeys in Design. Journeys in Design explores design, well-being and sustainable futures. The event took place in Jack Tamson's Gairden, a community garden on the shores of Duddingston Loch
close to Arthur's Seat.
with a wonderful view onto Duddingston Loch
Rebecca Solnit is a writer who is always interesting, whether she's writing about walking, feminism or other social issues, though I will admit to not always liking her writing style. (I've read a few of her books but inexplicably, seem not to have reviewed them on this blog!).
A friend recently lent me Solnit's latest book Orwell's Roses, which uses George Orwell's love of roses and gardening as a way into covering not only aspects of his biography but also issues as varied as rose cultivation and totalitarianism.
Orwell is well known as the author of 1984 and Animal Farm and his love of nature is often unacknowledged, though as Solnit points out, becomes apparent with a close reading of works such as 1984. Even his very name reflected his love of nature, when Eric Blair decided on his pen name, he chose Orwell, the name of a river in Suffolk, close to his parents' home.
Solnit's journey starts as she visits the garden of the cottage in rural Hertfordshire where Orwell lived for some years. From here, she examines Orwell's own love of nature and the symbolism of roses and flowers in general, taking apart the view held by some social activists that flowers are trivial. Orwell himself argued for people to be able to enjoy life alongside the need to overturn repressive political structures. Solnit discusses the degree to which our relationship with nature is political, and becoming increasingly so in this era of nature depletion and climate chaos. She also argues for the need for art that is not directly political, but that which offers a much-needed sustenance and solace for activists and indeed all of us in our everyday lives.
From here, Solnit also looks at injustices in the flower trade. She travelled in Colombia, where a flower industry (mostly supplying consumers in the USA) was first started as a replacement for the coca trade. And it is an industry, with millions of roses being produced every year, with detrimental effects on both the local environment, including depleting the groundwater, and the workers' health and rights. The flower industries in Kenya and Ethiopia (producing flowers for European consumers) are similarly detrimental. Of course these are not the only "things that look beautiful and are produced through hideous means" as Solnit says: "I have often thought of this disconnection as a lack of integrity that's pervasive in modern life".
She also touches on topics such as mining coal (which is of course the long dead remains of prehistoric plants) and takes long digressions, including a chapter on the writer Jamaica Kincaid who wrote about flowers from the point of view of an expert gardener and who considers the impact of colonialism on botanical science. I enjoyed these digressions, finding them interesting explorations of related topics, but, judging from some of the reviews of this book on Goodreads, some people just find these digressions annoying.
Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit, published (2021) by Penguin Random House.
