Taexalia

wild.life

Lone Pine Standing

This Lone Scots Pine stands overlooking the Firth of Forth near to where I live. I see it every day, a constant and consistent marker on the journey. Some days I don't really see it, or even acknowledge it's presence and other days, like today, I pause to look at it and take in it's stature. I wonder how this tree came to be growing here. It is the only Scots Pine in an area sprinkled with pockets and swathes of mixed deciduous woodland.

I have been thinking about community, of being with one's pack, of recognising the ones who support you from the ones to make pleasantries with whilst maintaining healthy boundaries.

Perhaps it is part of the journey of ... read more

Dance of the Red Fox

We went for a walk yesterday morning and one of the differences between the greyhound and the humans was highlighted as we climbed the steps to the high field. His nose engaged and his body language hinted at the traces of something interesting that happened earlier, he sees first with his nose, then his eyes. With us, our eyes engaged first with him and then with the changes in the landscape we noticed... a small area of ... read more

Twitterings

Happy Monday everyone! # Please vote for my photo http://www.lloydstsbweathercompetition.co.uk/category/image/all/6583/ # FLASH Warning of Heavy Rain for Central, Tayside & Fife valid from 1700 to 2100 Mon 23 Aug http://bit.ly/aIlQIY (via @metofficeEScot) # WHY do @DefraGovUK dismiss independent research on bee deaths & neonicotinoids? http://bit.ly/9MbC2e http://bit.ly/hU6gl (via @helpthebees) # Ages since I've been but this blog makes me want to ... read more

Swimming With Bluebeard

"To restrain the natural predator of the psyche it is necessary for women to remain in possession of all their instinctual powers. Some of these are insight, intuition, endurance, tenacious loving, keen sensing, far vision, acute hearing, singing over the dead, intuitive healing, and tending to their own creative fires." ~ Women Who Run With The Wolves by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Sometimes I come to the page thinking I have nothing to say, thinking ... read more

Wasp Architecture

We found this beauty as we took a walk out towards the Crow Tree. We have not taken this path much this summer, and the hound and I forgive ourselves as we would have been walking within two feet of this wasp haven. It is empty and I taken the opportunity for a closer look - I have never seen a wasp's nest at close range before. I wonder at the two gaping holes - were they part of the design, or did some other creature burst in? Has this nest been abandoned as part of the natural cycle, ... read more

Mary Bale ~ How To Be A Victim

I don't think I need to host a video of the animal cruelty story of the week ~ Mary Bale the RBS employee who was caught on CCTV dumping a cat in a wheelie bin. Her actions resulted in the cat, Lola, being trapped for nearly 16 hours before her owners discovered the cat terrified in her own mess. Britain, the most CCTV-ed nation in the world, soon gave birth to a new internet sensation that wasn't quite as heart-warming as the Susan Boyle lovefest. Before she knew it, Mary Bale was a YouTube ... read more

Late Summer Findings

I'm calling this post Late Summer Findings because I do not have the heart to name Autumn just yet. The trees on the hill behind my house are still green but there is a hint of rust and I wonder - can trees rust too in so much rain? Ah, rain, we have had a lot of rain this summer. So much rain that on dry days, like today, my eyes have to make adjustments as they view the landscape without the water curtain. Some of the potatoes show signs of blight - I hear it's almost unavoidable in a ... read more

Twitterings

Rather than contact me to explain their recent behaviour, they are combing my blog @scottishhydro # British Weather Photographer of the Year - vote for me http://bit.ly/9KdNrz or read about it http://bit.ly/dxkYXw # I hate having to net my salad patch against other people's cats. I need to find a different way to keep them out next year. # @spattzzz don't like the noise things and actually like the cats, except on my salad patch. I see it as a challenge ;) in reply to spattzzz ... read more

Charity Pollution and Littering

Last week my personal equilibrium was assaulted by an idiot from Scottish Hydro. This was later followed up by a pointless email from their customer service department who suggested I go and buy a sticker and decorate my door with it and their sales reps *may* adhere to the reques but, since the sticker is not legally binding, then again they may not. This week my personal space, and indeed my personal equilibrium, has been assaulted by a charity no less. Plastic bags are banned from ... read more

Twitterings

Honeybees are morning people http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10892913 #bees #wildlife # {{{{{{{{{@theknickermafia}}}}}}}}} # Who owns a Kindle then? # RT @_BCT_ #NBMP -Waterway, Woodland & Sunset/Sunrise Surveys still open! http://bit.ly/BatSurveys #bats #wildlife # @pimlico_flats only in America ;) in reply to pimlico_flats # @pimlico_flats I'm secretly lusting after an iPad - weight no issue as it would be a lounging thing ;) interested in Kindle usage/blogs in ... read more

British Weather Photographer of the Year

Weather. We talk about it. We moan about it. We live our lives, even in the 21st century, largely at the mercy of it. It never ceases to surprise us, and it can grind our lifestyle to a halt with the merest dusting of snow.

If, like me, you have a camera and an ounce of creativity (and I firmly believe that everyone has at least an ounce), then get yourself outside and take some pictures of British Weather. Why? Well for a start it will give you another excuse to moan about ... read more

Power Struggle

This is my doorstep. It is the entrance to my home. I do not think I am particularly unusual in wanting my home to be a private, peaceful place where I can relax and shut out the rest of the world. I have fought very hard for those things over the last few years, having been subjected to untenable noise by ignorant people who think that they have the right to ruin my life, and my sleep, with their appalling behaviour. Now that I ... read more

Sunflowers Potatoes Tomatoes

Whilst I never really doubted it, there is something to be said for companion planting lore. When I read that peas don't like onions, I decided against planting them together - and both are thriving. Of course that doesn't really prove they don't like each other, it just proves they like where I planted them. As I said in the same post, I had also read that sunflowers and potatoes are not comfy bedfellows, but it was too late for me because I already had ... read more