David and I have been to Highgate Common a few times for a
stroll. It is managed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and it is (except for the gyrocopters & small planes from the nearby airfield)
a very quiet and tranquil place, with heathland, grassland, woodland, and a
small pool. It is a great place for a walk, and the weather was perfect for a
wee jaunt. I also spent a fair bit of time here when I was a trainee with the
Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust, as we had training sessions at
Highgate. David likes it because it is near a good little antiques shop that he
likes to peruse whenever we are near.
With the season, the weather, the Big Festive Event happening, and
other mental health things all going on, I really don’t like this time of year.
I have lots of bad memories and associations with the festive period, and it is
really hard to break them and break through that and move on. It is a
monumental struggle every year, and to be honest I can do without it. Two days
after the festive day is David and I’s anniversary, so looking forward to that
is seeing me through at the moment.
As I have Time To Do Things™ due to unemployment, a sunny
walk was a perfect way to spend some time together in the great outdoors, get
some fresh air, and breathe in the goodness. It is very easy for me to shelter
and hide indoors, cosied up doing some crochet. It is in fact far too easy for me to do
that, so getting out for a walk is very welcome and a very good idea.
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| Signs of spring! |
I have recently joined the Birmingham Tree People so am
learning more about trees, and I am enjoying being outside and thinking about
what I’ve learnt so far and what people have said about trees. I am also
continually inspired by naturalist people on social media; I am partaking less
in Twitter but I still scroll through, and I love Instagram for the
inspiration. I think David is getting rather annoyed with me taking pictures of
~everything~, but I can’t help myself. If I didn’t take pictures I’d be
breaking bits off trees to bring home and have as décor.
We were only out for just under two hours so it was quite a
short walk, but I spoke to many dogs, saw loads of different types of fungus,
had the suns rays on my face and spent some time with David. In one patch of
the Common there is a fenceline and every fourth fence post had a simple little
bird feeding table on, for members of the public to put seed on as they walk.
Such a cute idea, and one bird (chaffinch? I am not good on small bird ID) flew
from one to another to get food.
And then afterwards we went to peruse the antiques shop and I
bought myself a present for Santa to pay me back for and for Santas Momma to
wrap up (because Santa can’t), and they are SO adorably cute I will never use
them for fear of breaking them. Pics to follow in another post…….
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| Jelly Ear. So squishy. |
