Mile 26!! I've done a marathon!

 You know when you have a really good idea, and then you have to do it? Yes… well I seem to do that a lot! My most recent idea involved me running/ walking a mile a day in May in memory of my dad and Bev, in the hopes of raising some money for Cancer Research UK and the Bowel Babe fund.

I can do that, no problem, I thought to myself as I typed my name into the “sign up here” box! I don’t know why I had so much self-confidence, I haven’t run more than about 50 meters since 1996. Anyway, I clicked the button, and for the whole of this month I have somehow managed to do this challenge.

 My legs are aching, I’ve cried more that I ever thought I would, at one point I think I hit “the wall”, but on the 26^th May I passed a very significant milestone for me. Mile 26, the Marathon mile. (Yes, I know that an actual marathon is 26.2 miles, but 26 is close enough for me.)

 

Mile 26 was always going to be significant for me because dad ran 3 marathons in his life, and one of those was when he was 46, the age that I am now. And although it has taken me 26 days, and not 4 hours and 20 minutes, I think he might still be proud of me for getting this far.

 

Marathon man in action!

I am not a natural runner, by any stretch of the imagination, but knowing that I’ve been doing this challenge in memory of my dad, and feeling like he’s been at my side a lot of the time has motivated me to keep going, along with such kind words, support and donations from so many of you, so thank you.

Like most of the UK, we are mid heatwave here in sunny Kent, and the 26^th May was like standing in an oven, so I concluded that running an entire mile, even in the evening was a bit dangerous! Instead, I thought that, in honour of my dad and his love of birding, I would do a birdwatching mile to see how many birds I could see and hear on my mile… I think dad would have approved.

So once the air was of a slightly less sizzling temperature I set off for my mile.

 

One of our resident pigeons.

Before I’d stepped out of the gate, I was greeted by two plump wood pigeons and a collared dove, as well as the parliament of rooks who live in the trees behind my house.

I had wanted to see some spectacular bird of prey, the buzzards had been circling over the garden all day, or maybe the barn owls that hunt across the fields, but I had no luck with that. However, I did see lots of swallows darting around over the fields, a pheasant, blackbirds, jackdaws, a song thrush, a robin and a few crows.

I knew that there were more birds around me that I could hear and not see, and Benno had told me about an app called Merlin, which you can put on your phone, and it records and identifies birdsong. Although we both spent years with dad wandering through wild places, our knowledge of birdsong is not a patch on his.

So, even though he would probably not have approved, I used the app to see what else was around me, and it added a wren and a dunnock to my little list. I was quite pleased that I hadn’t missed too much.

I know that these apps are not always accurate, and they are nowhere near as good as my dad’s well-trained ears, but it seemed to work for these purposes, and I am learning a lot about the different bird songs through using it.

So, as I plod on through the last few miles of this 31-mile challenge, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me and sent kind messages about my dad. We have raised over £1000 so far for Cancer Research UK and the Bowel Babe Fund. If you would like to add to that total, this is the link. (Click here.)

Benno and I are still trying to work out how to reply to comments on here, we are so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to write them, we read them all.

In other news:

 

Leeds Castle

Aside from running, Evelyn and I have also been busy visiting places and getting out in nature as much as we can. A recent trip to Leeds Castle was pretty spectacular. There were plenty of birds across the whole estate, and Evelyn made friends with the ducks! She also loved the falconry and has decided that’s what she wants to do for her birthday this year.

 

The Red/Black Kite who lives at Leeds Castle

Egyptian Goose on the wall at Leeds Castle

Making friends with the ducks

We also had a wander around Goodnestone Park Gardens, with lunch (and strawberry ice cream), where we found newts and tadpoles, beautiful flowers and a Green-Veined White butterfly.

 

Goodnestone Park Gardens

Green Veined White butterfly... I think.

And of course, Evelyn has been busy in the garden and at farm school, growing vegetables and hanging out with baby goats and enormous alpacas. What a life!

 

Alpacas at the farm! 

The moth trap has been on overnight, so I am about to empty it with her. I am intrigued to see what we have caught… I may be asking you all lots of moth related questions, once I’ve finished the 31 miles, that is! Thanks for reading.

 

Sarah and Evelyn.

 

The Curse Of The Woolly Jumper.

First of all, I'd like to say a genuine and heartfelt thank you to everyone for the kind words about our Dad, both on the blog and in real life, it means everything to us that he meant so much to so many people. 

 

The fish are just a bonus when the world looks like this.

It's a good job Dad taught me to stop and appreciate nature whilst fishing,
 if it was solely about catching fish, I'd be a miserable sod fishing this place!

  Since Dad left us, I’ve managed eight trips down to my local syndicate water, first a couple of quick morning sessions after the elusive, but sizeable perch that live there, then a switch over to do six day sessions for the tench. I’ve only done one previous spring season on this lake fishing for the tench, and from what I remember, and my diary entries, I caught fish pretty much every time I cast a line into the water. This season has been very, very different. The perch fishing almost went completely by the wayside this year as I was busy either looking after dad, or helping to organise the funeral and everything that goes with that, so it was decided that I’d skip that and go straight after the tench, easy right? Important to note at this point that I have been wearing my dad’s favourite fishing jumper on every single occasion, not entirely sure why, it just makes me feel like he’s still with me. When I look back at all of the really big or really special fish that I’ve caught in my life, he was always the one who slid the net under them for me, followed by a fist bump and a big smile, I know that he can’t do that for me anymore, but this jumper is the next best thing. I have become convinced that the old man has been jinxing me via the jumper, purely because he thinks it's funny.

As I sat by that lake yesterday morning, I was six days into this seasons efforts after these tench without so much as a bleep from any of my alarms, so it was a most welcome surprise when my right-hand Delkim sprang into life at 12pm, after a nerve-wracking fight, legs shaking, I managed to slide the net under the first tench of the season, I finally broke the jinx. Not a huge tench by the standards of this place, but it means a hell of a lot to me. You can tell that Dad didn't take that photo, he would have told me to sort my hands out and get my fingers out of the picture. 

7lb 2oz of most welcome gravel pit tench.

I know people will blame the slow fishing this year on the never-ending easterly winds, the cold nights, the clear water, the lack of weed cover etc etc, but it’s definitely this jumper. I am going to continue to wear it still, no matter what. I'll keep updating the blog as the season goes on, I'm already thinking about targeting the unknown population of eels in there.

I have one last thing to say at this point,

I’m really going to miss that soppy old sod. 

Benno. 

Keep on keeping on

Early morning sunrise

It’s been almost two months since I lost my dad, and life has been a whirlwind of admin, funeral arrangements, house clearing, mine and Benno’s birthdays, and my usual life of parenting three children, mixed with a generous helping of grief and a lot of tears.

There have been many days when I have wanted to hide away from it all, to stay in bed under the duvet and pretend that none of this was happening, but I know that wouldn’t really have helped me, even though it was extremely tempting.

Growing up as Dylan’s daughter, and also being a qualified eco-therapist, (someone who helps people to connect with nature for therapeutic healing… yes, my dad did roll his eyes at this!) I know only too well the healing power of connecting with the natural world, even in the darkest of times. And so, over the past 8 weeks, I have sought out as much connection with nature as I possibly could in the brief moments between all of the relentless jobs.

There is something about being in nature that soothes my soul, and I am lucky to live in a rural village surrounded by wildlife. Even as I am typing this, I can hear an entire dawn chorus outside my window, and I think there is a mouse on the doorstep!

 I am very conscious that my knowledge of the wildlife that surrounds me is nowhere near as encyclopaedic as my dad’s, but that doesn’t seem to take away my enjoyment of looking at it and being immersed in the natural world. So, I thought I would share with you a few images of things that Evelyn and I have seen and done so far this spring. (Evelyn is my daughter, Dylan’s granddaughter. She is 12 and attends a local farm school where she spends all of her time outdoors in nature.) All of these images are taken on my phone, I have yet to learn to use dad’s camera.

Seven-spot ladybird on Evelyn's jumper

A collared dove in our apple tree

Spring lambs

Cherry blossom

Peacock butterfly under the cherry trees

Peanut thief! We watch him for hours.

Evelyn in her happy place, growing flowers and vegetables.

Whilst clearing the house, Benno and I have rediscovered all of dad’s notebooks, dating right back to 1992, which are full of meticulous records and lists of the birds, moths and fish that he had encountered each year. It’s really lovely to have his handwritten notes and thoughts on life in hard copy, it feels like a little part of him is still here.

Occasionally he would also add little annotated illustrations, and yesterday I got a bit lost in some of the notebooks, and I thought you might like to see a few of these tiny drawings.

 

To end my first official blog post, I wanted to share with you that I have embarked on a challenge that is completely out of my comfort zone. I am running/ jogging 31 miles in May (a mile a day) to raise money for The Bowel Babe bowel cancer research fund, and Cancer research UK, in memory of my dad.

I will be very honest here, running is definitely not my thing and so this is a huge challenge for me. I have been to the running shop to get myself some proper shoes for this momentous event, which seem to be helping me and my knees so far, and I have managed to raise a massive £591 already, which I am so pleased about. If anyone would like to donate this is the link. Click here.

I will of course keep you updated on progress as the month goes on.

Thank you for reading my first official blog post, I hope you have enjoyed it. 

Sarah and Evelyn.