I gathered in the first of the blackberries today – an impressive handful of six weighty berries were very gently placed in the front pocket of my rucksack. (It’s still a bit early for them to be coming out, so I considered myself very fortunate to have gathered six.) I’ve been thinking about blackberries a… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Blackberries
So I was beachcombing on Saltburn beach the other day - if you're interested, my previous post is all about it - and I found a particularly fantastic little piece of driftwood shaped something like a claw. A view of the claw before it started its transformation. From the moment I picked it up, I… Continue reading DIY In The Dark : Beachcombed Claw Necklace
I went beachcombing last night. I scuttled under the immense Jurassic cliffs at Saltburn-By-The-Sea, and filled my carrier bag with rocks and driftwood and more rocks. (I really wanted to find sea glass but only scored two tiny pieces.) It was the first time, in as long as I can remember, that I felt like… Continue reading Wyrd Days : Saltburn-By-The-Sea
When I take little Saga out for a walk, I know there’s a likelihood that I’ll encounter roadkill. I walk the country road most of the way, and too many people drive idiotically fast. Usually, I come across rabbits or birds that have been hit, but in the past two days, it’s been hedgehogs –… Continue reading Roadkill : I Will Remember You, My Friend
Thistles, like foxgloves, can steal me away for hours. If I’m passing by a thistle or a whole host of them, I always, always, always have to stop and drink in their presence. The prickles that we see all over the plant are for defense and protect the thistle from being eaten by most animals.… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Thistles
Today has been fraught with anxiety and a despair so deep I’m astonished that I managed to haul myself out of bed. My patience has been as thin as a new moon and I’ve been shaking for most of the past twelve hours. My chest has been so tight it's as if someone has bound… Continue reading Mind In The Dark : The Healing Wild
It’s been raining now for six days. (Though as I type this, it’s starting to peter out and the sun is shouting 'HERE I AM!' Typical.) The grass and the flowers and the worms are loving it, and the birds are singing their hearts out until the witching hour. It’s a welcome relief from the… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Rain
Isn’t it astonishing the power trees can have over us? How they can fill us with joy, enough that we could burst, or, at the other end of the spectrum, make us feel so damn terrified that we’re hardly able to process our feelings, but know only that we need to get away from said… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Trees In Horror Movies
I have an affinity for pine trees. I always have, I always will. They're my favourite tree, followed by oak and silver birch. Ever since I was a child, pine trees have held me captivated. I grew up surrounded by evergreen forests, and when the time came that I had to leave them, it felt… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Pine Trees
You can always tell how much I've enjoyed a book by the number of Post-It-Notes I've stuck inside it. By the time I'd finished reading Kith by Jay Griffiths, practically every page was 'noted.' And this has been a running theme with Griffiths's books. Her previous works, Wild, Pip Pip, and Tristimania have all, in… Continue reading Reading In The Dark : Kith
Celebrating the strange and the shadowy, the damned and unseen 