Monday 08 June

The last eighty days has allowed me more time, space and reason to think.

I know what I like and don’t like and what I consider to be ‘perfect’ or ‘beautiful’. I hadn’t appreciated before Covid19 just how beautiful the blackbirds song was and, in contrast, how the ‘cack, cack, cack’ of the magpie makes me actually feel sorry for it. However, what is ‘perfect-beautiful’ to me may not be the same for someone else.

My brother recommended an episode of the BBC Radio 3 programme ‘The Listening Service” that focussed on whether birdsong could be considered music. The conclusion was quite firmly ‘no’ for a number of reasons. But that doesn’t stop us from finding music and birdsong both beautiful. This is because they have their own sonic place.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07gn6km

In the programme it shared examples of where composers have tried to replicate or represent birdsong in music. It all sounds pretty grotesque to me. Hats off for trying but let’s keep them apart, where they belong.

You see, in the biophony (look it up!), human sounds and birdsounds occupy different frequencies, so they don’t work together. I for one would prefer to keep it that way and appreciate the ‘perfect-beautiful’ of both separately.

Sunday 07 June

I’ve finally added some water to our garden today. I bought a small, simple pond liner (80cm x 60cm) for twenty-five quid, dug a hole and stuck it in. We had some slate from our old lean to roof which I used as an overhang. Some logs from the old laburnum tree, that used to grow in the same spot, became the edging. Our next-door neighbour kindly donated some plants which were anchored into a layer of grit and stones at the bottom. I filled it with rainwater from the water butt.

Within minutes our resident male blackbird came to check it out, as did the obligatory robin. I say resident blackbird, he is actually nesting in our neighbours summer house which borders our garden. He has been very busy over the past couple of weeks swooping in and out of the roof overhang (I’ve used that word twice in one post!). There must be chicks.

So, now the garden is feeling pretty complete. It has all the main ingredients; trees (large and small), shrubs, flowers, grasses, a veggie plot and now water. I have never been so interested in the garden as I have this year and it’s all due to the lockdown. Again, a sign that I am being more aware of what is in front of me. It’s the one patch of this planet that I can affect directly, immediately and forever. It’s also the patch that no one else can destroy, dump on or pollute.

If you are fortunate enough to have a garden, you have a moral obligation to protect it and care for it. Part of that duty is to make it welcoming to other creatures that need to use it. The patchwork of gardens in the UK covers around 10 million acres – that’s more than all of our nature reserves combined. In a typical city, gardens make up about a quarter of it’s total area but, sadly, the trend is to cover them up with slabs, bricks or concrete or, even worse, to build on them.

We need to see each garden plot, no matter how big or small, as a unique part of the world’s patchwork of natural spaces. Each one we lose leaves a little empty hole. Add all those holes together, and that’s quite a gap.

Friday 05 June

Another productive day at our Heybridge school, and I am quite enjoying my 40 minute drive to and from work.

Listening to the radio on the way there and an audio book on the way home is a real opportunity to focus in the morning on the day ahead, and to unwind on my way home.

Thankfully, Mabel (our dog) seems to be in good shape and we await the black poo that shows the charcoal solution that we have given her has passed through her gut.

My moulded pond liner arrived today, so my new garden project will start tomorrow, and it feels like this is the missing link of our back garden.

I am looking forward to the ‘Friday feeling’ coming back which has certainly been missing over the past couple of months.

Thursday 4 June

I’m feeling bloody exhausted tonight; physically and emotionally drained by everything going and compounded by a challenging evening.

Draining day working on the school risk assessment and managing other teams of people – it’s really interesting and exciting but played out against a tetchy backdrop.

After we got home we saw Mabel had taken a bar of fruit and nut chocolate from my bag and eaten it.

Dogs are poisened by cocoa and grapes so after a panic-striken trip to the emergency vet we returned home after she had been injected to make her throw-up.

I’ve also not had my walk or taken time to meditate tonight and have noticed how important this has become in my list of daily needs. The other, of course, is coffee. Groan.

Wednesday 03 June

Today’s blog post is being written late at night, sat downstairs, alongside Mabel the dog, who has been sick.

It’s been another full-on day; at work we are focussing on completing a comprehensive and wide-ranging risk assessment before we open to our Year 10’s.

The PM was doing the briefing this afternoon on the back of a number of days announcing various further eases of lockdown.

To be honest, I’m not completely sure what we are able to do now. I believe we can have a gathering of upto six individuals round at our house but they cannot go indoors. We are advised to wear a mask in busy places such as public transport or supermarkets.

The weather has changed a little bit today, much cooler and cloudy, but the five of us did our usual local dog walk. The swallows were in fine flying form.

Tuesday 02 June

The USA is in crisis at the moment.

Not only are they at the top of the global charts for Covid19 on cases and confirmed fatalaties, but there are also protests and riots in many cities.

Last week, a black man called George Floyd, was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis after he was arrested for apparently using a stolen $20 bill.

This has sparked uprisings in many cities across the country and Trump’s response has been to talk tough and threaten the use of the military to end the violence.

His behaviour has been condemned by many in the US and across the globe; what worries me is that he is a wounded-animal, and a not particularly bright or rational one to boot.

Monday 1st June

It’s my friend’s birthday today, sadly he left us all last year and I miss him.

He lived in Reading along with my other great childhood friend; as is often the case, over recent years, we didn’t get together as much as we wanted to or perhaps should have but, in the end, that didn’t matter.

I have always valued friendship but never quite mastered it, I always strived for more and looked on at others thinking they had all worked it out.

But since my mate Jason departed, I have realised, friendship is different for everyone and can’t really be defined.

Cliches are cliches because they are usually true; you don’t realise what you have until it’s gone. Life is pretty good all told, the universe is ticking by, and I try to enjoy, every day, the good stuff right in front of me.

Sunday 31 May

I went for a 15k walk today with my mates in Castle Acre, North Norfolk.

It’s the first time, in the last seventy-plus days, that I’ve been out with anyone other than my own family; we social distanced (but regularly forgot) and took four cars which was not very environmentally friendly (but necessary).

We walked along a stretch of the Peddars Way from South Pickenham to West Acre finishing at Castle Acre castle and priory with a stop for a beer (canned IPA as all pubs are still closed) and a packed lunch along the way.

I love how our walks always start with loads of chat and laughs but end with heavy legs and a line of silently satisfied walkers, young and older alike.

There was plenty of beautiful agricultural and post-industrial sights to see along the way; so much so, I have posted three photos today.

Saturday 30 May

We are very lucky where we live; Essex and East Anglia has the kindest weather in the UK and we do not take it for granted.

Today I spent a few hours chopping up the remaining couple of pallets and making a plant stand/ water feature combo.

I’m actually really pleased with it despite the pump producing little more than a trickle (I’ve already ordered a new one).

The patio (and garden) has been an additional room for us all over the largely sunny and warm lockdown and we have done quite a bit of upcycling of various bits and bobs to make it a really pleasant space.

Everyday I am grateful for what we have; our garden is already a wonderful place to be and I am very conscious that many, many people do not have one.