The healing qualities of nature

The weather has not been conducive to gardening in the past week. A flash flood has deposited a lot of mud at the end of the garden which makes it impossible for me to access my shed, for fear of slipping. The pot plants are recovering from the torrential rain. There are lots of young birds, newly fledged blue and great tits mainly. I suddenly noticed today how fast they had emptied the bird feeders.

I use old rubber gloves for gardening. Mind you I am usually out hanging the washing on the line, see a few weeds, and before I know it, I have a handful of weeds, filthy hands and ruined nails.

Also Vitamin D stops depression so getting out in the sun is always good for you, don't completely cover up so some of your skin can absorb it. A surprising number of people have a Vit D deficiency because of all the fuss about skin cancer. I am not saying it is unnecessary fuss as my OH has had problems but the experts are backing off a bit now.

Nankate , nature is healing . I help run a drop in centre for people with problems, worries , depression, anxiety, grief etc. We do craft work, baking , have board games on the go, take walks on the mountains , visit gardens open to the public and have an allotment, it's the walks , gardens and allotment which come top, I am trying to get a second one from the council - blood from a stone - I have a passion for trees , with the trees come wildlife too, it is a beautiful world X

I'm glad you're feeling better with the help of the wildlife in your garden, NanKate. I am another one that can't identify trees. Most wild flowers and just about all wild birds, even from their song, but just about the only trees I can identify are the usual oak, chestnut and birch. I think I'll get a book too. Can you still get I-spy books? Like you I hate getting my fingernails dirty, but I find gardening gloves a pain in the neck, so I, too, wear latex gloves. They're not very hard wearing (especially around roses) but brilliant while they last, then you chuck 'em away! The soap tip is one I'll have to try, though.

NanaandGrampy thought about getting one of these because I feed the robin in the morning, we breakfast together, and I get a lot of exercise chasing the wood doves/magpies away, but wondered if the window gets dirty with bird poo? Do not like cleaning windows.

Yestrday morning I went down to make the tea at 6.30 and there was a buzzard on the lawn; he sat there for about 20 minutes. I had been awake since 5 am because a cuckoo has taken up residence in one of our trees. The beautiful redstarts have been nesting in the walls of the house as they do every year and we have barn owls a plenty.
The garden here nurtures and sustains us in good times and bad. Everything is late this year, but we have so much salad that we are sending it to market with our neighbour tomorrow.
I wish I could find gardening gloves that lasted longer than a couple of months though.

I bought a whole box of latex gloves from a market stall for £1 which I use for gardening. They are brilliant as you don't lose the sense of touch. If they get very dirty I chuck them out but usually I just keep them on and wash my hands wearing them, with soap and water and then can re-use them.

I had a tame robin in our Yorkshire garden who would fly to my hand and take food from it. We also had a family of blackbirds in our next house in Bedfordshire, who followed us around the garden and would come and eat crumbs from the floor around the patio table. The birds here in Hampshire seem to be more inclined to throw themselves against the patio doors. We have two fatalities
in the last three days. Makes me very sad.

I've also found nature healing and calming NanKate. I have a tree book which I still find very useful, which I take out and about - Hamlyn Guide to Trees of Great Britain and Europe (ISBN 978-0-7537-2528-3)

Its food for the soul that's for sure, our garden is totally secluded at this time of the year and although currently quite overgrown as we have been away for a number of weeks , I can sit and watch the comings and goings forever.

We too have a friendly robin( or robins as it happens) and they feed from a feeder stuck on the outside of the lounge window, a source of endless entertainment.

I love gardening too, you can buy very thin gloves like dentists and surgeons wear and they help keep your hands clean. I have a robin who follows me around when I am working and he chatters to me, picks up grubs that I cannot see he comes very close and I feel so honoured that he trusts me to come that close. When the grandchildren were down we saw a tiny frog no bigger than an inch so beautiful.

all we need is some sunshine to enjoy nature even more!

NanKate

I have created a little 'haven' at the bottom of my garden. I fenced off this area and planted shrubs along the fence line for extra privacy. And then I planted it out in flowers and shrubs that are fragment, such as Choisya, lavender, Rosemary, old musk roses, climbing roses, mint, chamomile, etc.

I have an old swing seat and bird feeders. I love to chill out in this special area and watch the birds such as robins and blue tits as they visit the feeders or gather mealy worms I've spread under the trees. I've come to know individual birds, such as a male blackbird with a leg he drags behind him.

It is the place where I can relax most in all the world and feel the healing qualities of nature that you describe. So yes, you are spot on. Best of luck with your tree spotting - and I think you'll that there are even many different kinds of 'fir' trees

I'm glad nature has helped you, nankate. Here's a trcik for not getting dirty fingernails when gardening (I don't use it but one of my neighbours does. I just get mucky): scrape your nails over a bar of soap before you start! Alternatively, wear gardening gloves. You can get quite lightweight ones. Have fun! Mucking about with plants is good for the soul