Inspiration
For many years, each time I’ve moved, a little book has been packed up and moved with me. This little book has been a point of reference when needed and in the past year whilst packed in a box, it has been on my mind.
A recent move has allowed the book to reveal it’s 1979 self to me. It was my grandmother’s book, she and my grandfather grew vegetables, flowers and had an aviary in their garden. In my youth it inspired me to press flowers without success and now it has encouraged me to look closer at my surroundings.
Having moved a month ago to the sticks, south of Salisbury, we have countryside wrapped around us. Three goats, a cockerel, hens and ducks live next door whilst fields full of dairy cows and the odd bull in a field alone entertain us. Our evening walks pinpoint where the bats are about to fly from and this morning, I was greeted by the largest spider I’ve seen next to the sofa. Costa is no longer a short walk away but there is a milk station within walking distance in which you fill your own bottle using a vending machine.
A lack of Wi-Fi led my mind to revisit a though a few years ago inspired by the film Julie and Julia in which Julie sets out to recreate French cuisine along with learning how to cook. Julia Child’s book was over a year blogged in Julie’s style.
The awakening in my head of what could be outside waiting for me, has been encouraging. On my first trip out with the camera I recall thinking there was nothing to capture. So, I did what I advocate others to do, I sat. The ground was alive with creatures, flowers, seeds, noise and smells (some not always pleasant).
After picking up the book a week or so ago I took a walk to see if our native plants are still there. I presume they are native; I am after all no expert. Armed with a camera heavier from the images I’d taken I looked to begin to identify them. I found myself painfully using 3 or if it allowed 4G on my phone to research the plants and read about their uses in medicine and food.
I have an aim, which I am quite nervous to share. I would like to be able to photograph each flower in the book in a Quirky sort of way. The next thing for me to do is to identify how many plants there are in the book.
It would be great to interact with adults and children to see if they can find the plants too and maybe to help me find the ones I can’t find. Hopefully you’ll learn along with me and share when you find them.
