Welcome to Litsy!

#Naturalitsy #Midsummersolace #Photochallenge

Day 16 & 17 - Meadows and forests

Split screen today as I missed yesterday. Nothing brings me more peace than being surrounded by greenery.

What's your go-to happy place?

#20in4 #Readathon @Andrew65

I'm planning to take a 20 minute (at least) tea break at 4pm each day. I will be reading my February selections from my 3 year-long reads: Meadowland, Joyful, and England the Autobiography.

Just finished my last book of 2021, which I've been reading throughout the year. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I love John Lewis-Stempel. Haven't picked a 2022 yearlong read yet but might very well be another JLS.

Here goes - this might be a long one. But isn‘t it pretty?!

John Lewis-Stempel is ambivalent about foxes, having both hunted them on horseback and ‘sabbed‘ fox hunts. I have similar (but less extreme) feelings about this book!

This is a diary of fragments, a year in the life of a meadow on JLS‘s farm on the Welsh-English border, observing the plants, the wildlife, the livestock... I‘ve been reading this over a couple of months, and it‘s made me

Reading Meadowland this morning inspired me to go and check out our local patch of meadow - a town park with woodlandy bits, large parts of which are managed as a meadow. There‘s a violet trail - I only spotted tiny white ones today - more formal pools/gardens, and hefty amounts of mud. Access past a #SpinsterStreetSign (as promised @batsy ) - to which the reply is, they certainly do!

In 2020 I read The Wood, a chapter for each month, as a way to meditate on the seasons. I so enjoyed JLS's soothing prose, interesting little facts and history, and amusing observations of the animals, that I wanted to do it again. This year I've picked his Meadowland which is also written as a year long diary.

Emma, thank you! Such a lovely surprise in the post today - this is THE most gorgeous cover, and it definitely does sound like something I should like. My nonfiction reading took a real nosedive last year, so I can‘t wait to get it back in 2021.

Thank you 🥰

Stempel chronicles a year in the life of his farm meadow. A lot of beautiful, humorous, and informational nature writing. I have dipped in & out of this for 2 years, wrapping up the December chapter on an appropriately snowy winter‘s day.

“This is a dying world. A nearby farm is diversifying into holiday accommodation. Their field of beautiful aspect will grow tipis. Which is like a dog shitting on white Berber carpet.”

I snorted at the image! 😆 His state after days of mowing hay with a scythe.

This passage cracked me up, re: shearing sheep after 40. 😆

Ahhh, the much maligned dandelion.

Morning nature reading with favorite breakfast: eggs, beans, & salsa. 😋

The collective noun for buzzards is “a wake.” How perfect is that?!

Apparently in the spring they resort to scavenging for earthworms and it‘s suspected their footsteps sounds like the pattering of rain on the soil, luring the worms up & out. Tricky tricky.

An icky factoid for the day. 🐛

See that beetle traversing the book range? I‘m going to take this as a promise spring will come, even though we have to get thru March & April. 😬🤞🏾 The temps have reached the 30s F outside now - which is when they start to wake up inside the house.

Up next - I‘m on a nature roll! 🌿

"A lawn, when you come to think of it, is nothing but a meadow in captivity."

I live in a small English village. I love the quiet and the relationship we have with nature and the seasons. This sums up what I don't like about heavily manicured gardens.

A meadow is not a natural habitat; it is a relationship between nature, man and beast. At its best, it is also equilibrium, artistry.