Week 31 was a bit of a mixed bag. It was inevitable, really, that this would be a tricky time. All those hours, all that prep, all the build-up to a big event and then it’s gone in a flash. The summer school disappeared before my eyes and I wondered what on earth I was supposed to do with myself. And then, suddenly, you have time to think. And thinking can sometimes be hard, as my Thursday entry highlights.
I’m ok. Sometimes I don’t feel so ok and sometimes I do. And that’s ok too. We all feel like this from time to time and I’d like to be honest in my blog.
But, on a more uplifting note, my fundraising walks really did help. They provided some much-needed structure and I was grateful for that. The ‘acts of wildness’ helped too. They were like little rays of sunshine through the grey cloud and I had quite a few highlights, including:
🌺 Learning 3 new wild flowers
🐦 House martin nests
🌳 Exploring War Memorial Park in Coventry
💙 Gazing at a kingfisher
Thank you for reading and please check out my JustGiving page to find out more about my August 2021 walking fundraiser for Parkinson’s UK 😊
Monday 9th August 2021
There’s definitely a change in pace this week. Following the summer school last week, I took a couple of days off work. This slower pace felt a little odd and I wondered what I was going to do with myself today. I took myself off for a couple of walks – knowing I needed to get another 6.5 miles under my belt definitely gave me something to aim for.
The clouds were so imposing on this evening walk. Rain threatened me on the whole journey and you could see the storm clouds brewing in the distance. So dramatic.
Tuesday 10th August 2021
Hairy willowherb 
Large bindweed 
Field bindweed
I learnt three new types of plant over the weekend and I tested myself – and my partner – on these as we passed them this evening. Learning is easy. Remembering is the hard part…
These plants are: hairy willowherb (pink), large bindweed (large white) and field bindweed. I always want to call hairy willowherb ‘herby something or other’!
Wednesday 11th August 2021
I’ve mentioned before that house martins nest under our fascias. In fact, the street is absolutely full of them over summer. They flit around the rooftops, swerve about in the sky, cling to the red bricks and make such an endearing sound.
Our house martin nest is right next to the window of our ‘study’. I haven’t worked in here much recently – I like to move around the house – but this was the space I chose today. It was a bit of a difficult day but the house martins brightened it up. They clearly have another nest of chicks. I’m sure that’s the third brood this year.
Thursday 12th August 2021
Wow. Today was a tough one. It was like I’d gone back in time by about 4 months. It kind of made sense though. For weeks, I’ve been prepping everything for the digital summer school at work but that’s all over now so I have time to think again. And, today, that was challenging.
It reminded me of something I drew last week for work. ‘What does freedom mean to you?’ was a question we asked the kids to consider and they shared some really brilliant pieces with us. The picture I drew just popped into my head while I was out walking and, though it comes from a very privileged life, the freedom to escape your own thoughts and insecurities is what I wanted to focus on.
And, today, I really did feel this piece. So, my act of wildness was to try and deal with these thoughts. I laid down on the bed and listened to the wind. It was a particularly windy day and the sound of the leaves blowing and the wind whistling through the window calmed me to no end.
Friday 13th August 2021
I was treated today with seeing the sights of Coventry. A work friend took me for a very long walk around some of the parks and beauty spots. We walked from work to Canley Ford and then through a couple of little parks until we got to War Memorial Park. The park was huge – so much green space for families to enjoy, along with an amazing-looking play area and beautiful memorial.
There was also a sensory garden. I absolutely loved this little place. The colours were just stunning. And I loved the art as well. In fact, I had to confess to my friend that I really do have the mind of a small child when I pointed to the painted bees on a flowerpot and said ‘ooooh look, more bees’. Literally 2 seconds later, a child – age 3 maybe? – said to her dad ‘look daddy, more bees’… 😂
Saturday 14th August 2021
I took the opportunity for a solo trip to Brandon Marsh nature reserve today. The reserve is managed by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and I’ve written about it before. I thought my walk today could do with a change of scenery.
The reserve is made up of a variety of different pools and seeing swans, geese, ducks and herons is always pretty much guaranteed. Today I also saw moorhens, coots and lapwings. But. There was one really special moment at the ‘River Pool’. I headed there first – as a creature of habit, I followed my usual route around the reserve. It wasn’t particularly early and there were a lot of cars in the car park, but I think a lot of people must miss this pool. It’s off the main track and I came across no one at all. Either that or the mozzies put them off – my legs got absolutely bitten to shreds!
There’s a hide at this pool (Steetley Hide) and it was empty so I went in and had it all to myself for about 20 minutes. I had a look through my binoculars at the moorhen and swan in the water. Then, just behind the swan, there was a flash of bright blue. I’ve been lucky enough to see kingfishers in this pool before and there he was, balancing precariously on a reed – a beautiful male kingfisher. I just sat there and watched. He dipped into the pool a couple of times to retrieve some sort of prey and hovered above the water at one point too, his tiny wings beating like a hummingbird’s.
And he was still there about 3 hours later. Before I left the reserve (after a good ol’ walk), I headed back to the hide, just to see. He was still balancing precariously on the thinnest of reeds and still dipping in and out of the water. My phone camera wasn’t good enough to capture the moment, but it was pretty magical.
Sunday 15th August 2021
Another Sunday. Can you believe it?!? And on one of today’s walks, I was joined by my lovely aunt, uncle and cousin. I haven’t seen them properly for about a year and a half and they stopped off en-route to my mum and dad’s just so they could go for a walk with me. We went around the meadow, into town and then had some breakfast together. It was so nice to see them.
Emily’s Walk for Grandad – Week 2 update
For anyone following my walking fundraiser throughout August, here’s another update. I’ve mentioned a few walks above, but here’s the full tally after week 2:
8th Aug: 6.51 miles
9th Aug: 6.91
10th Aug: 10.76
11th Aug: 7.57
12th Aug: 7.22
13th Aug: 11.81
14th Aug: 6.54
Running total: 110.33 (over halfway to my 200 mile target!!!)
Thank you, as always, for the donations, support and warm wishes. Can’t wait for my canal adventure to start next week! 
*For anyone new to my blog, let me explain a bit more about what these posts are about. Every week I share a summary of my daily ‘acts of wildness’. This wildlife challenge was inspired by ’30 Days Wild’ and ’12 Days Wild’ from The Wildlife Trusts. The ‘356’ isn’t a typo – typically, I only thought about doing this after 2021 had already started so I won’t be able to do a full year this time. Next year will be different though! Thank you and I hope you’ve enjoyed the post!
Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist 