After talking and reading about all things Elder-related at the herb study group last week, I haven’t been able to pass by these beautiful trees without my mouth watering. Being limited for time today, I decided my wild day activity would involve collecting some flowers during a journey along the cycle path and making fritters for my dinner – bonus because I have little food in my cupboards at present! Although short on time, stopping part way along a cycle route I usually tr

Another week passed already with lots more wild activity happening. I’ve had many cycling moments throughout and turned them into opportunities to connect with the nature surrounding me when travelling from A to B. I’ve raced against rainclouds, mentally listed the birds singing around me (lots of wrens, dunnocks and chaffinches, sprinklings of blackbirds and song thrushes and the odd greenfinch and chiffchaff, to name a few) and high-fived leaves and flowers as I’ve passed.

It’s been an incredibly busy time since I last wrote, but I have been enjoying taking time out for some wild moments each day. I’ve been back to see the swans on a couple of occasions. I visited them very early in the morning the day after they hatched and was rewarded with the beautiful sight of their first swim. It was great to see their personalities come out – two stayed in for about 10 minutes before retreating back to the nest with mum, while the third decided he was ha

It’s been a super busy few days, hence a lack of blogging. I’m taking this window of opportunity for a quick update as I am off away to England at the weekend. So, first to get up to speed with the past few days. The afternoon of day 7 was spent leading a nature walk. I discovered a new (to me!) green place in the city and it was lovely sharing knowledge and discovering new information together. Day 8 was pretty packed but I put aside twenty minutes for a quiet moment on

My bike and I braved the extreme wind today to attended an event in Leith Links called “Waggle Dance”, based on all things bee-related. It was a great reminder of how much good there is happening in society by such lovely people with a passion for positive action. This community event had live music, a ceilidh, and held various stalls; one of my favourites being the seed bomb stall. Everyone had the opportunity to get their hands dirty making seed bombs, which at the end of t

I’ve had such an exciting evening attending a foraging walk. I never knew how many of the plants out there are edible, and to find such a variety and abundance in an urban area was amazing. Obviously with the population of dogs, one thing to watch is the location when foraging. We tended to browse from slopes! I decided to take home a bunch of this (below), known as cleavers, goosegrass or sticky willy (which conjures fond childhood memories of trying to stick the stuff to th

Today I challenged myself to find the colours of the rainbow in the flora around me. Setting off late afternoon, I expected the hardest colours to find would be indigo and red... and was right and wrong. Surprisingly, red occurred fairly regularly, mainly in close-up details such as stems and young leaves, although I also found a red flower. Aside from indigo, the colour I had most trouble with was orange. The fantastic thing about focusing on colours though, is you begin to

Day two of 30 Days Wild consisted of a bike ride to ForthQuarter Park after work to chill out with a beautiful couple who are to be graced with the patter of tiny webbed feet any day now. Upon my arrival, Mr A. Swan* was busy with some home improvement DIY, overseen by a watchful eye of the missus. As she dozed, he warned off all the unwanted attention of gathering crowds and canine interferences by puffing up and striding intimidatingly forward. Once satisfied everything was

A photography cycle-ride yesterday along the amazing Edinburgh cycle-path network was intended for travelling far and wide, capturing a variety of “spring-bursting-into-life” pictures. I was absolutely intent on avoiding my usual trap of ending up in one place for three-hours flat. Yet ten minutes of cycling later, a beautiful whiff of onions tantalising my nose and a stop to investigate what on first appearance was a spread of generic – albeit eye-satisfyingly lush – green l

It’s that time of year where Spring is fast approaching and plants are beginning to awaken. The snowdrops have already made their appearance, and it’s been a welcoming sight, seeing them dotted all over the city of Edinburgh. But now it is the crocuses time to shine. Check out a verge near you to see these beauties emerging in their masses. I headed out to explore Victoria Park for the first time, and was delighted to happen across a vast, colourful congregation. I managed a