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.