A violet oil beetle crossing my path — low, certain, carrying more than first meets the eye.

Her young pass from one body to another — through a brief and perfect deception — into a solitary bee’s nest.

Not cruel. Not kind.
Simply its nature.

#VioletOilBeetle #WildEncounters #NoticingNature

Thank you… I’ll keep turning towards the light—and dancing, if only in my heart 🌿

Thank you… I hope so too. It felt like its longing for a quieter place 🌿

Yes… so much to treasure, if we pause long enough to see it. The small moments feel like anchors 🌿

Yes… I felt that too, carrying it somewhere quieter. There’s something almost sacred in where it chooses to grow 🌿

Today is Earth Day.

Yesterday I rescued Wood sorrel from the roadside, torn from the hedge by passing tyres.
I held it — a small piece of the woodland world — and carried it somewhere quieter.
Such a small thing. So easily missed.
If only we noticed a little more.

#EarthDay #NoticingNature

A woodland walk for the weary…

We set off tired, the car almost lulling me to sleep.
Chores done, we took the long way home—through the woods, boots on.

Wildflowers, winding paths.
Back at the car, birdsong through open windows.
Tea and cake.

A little tired, perhaps—but weary? No.

#WoodlandWalks

Picking up yesterdays thread from #WildflowerHour

Here, it isn’t only lady’s smock that holds the orange tip’s young.

Honesty thrives—fairy money by the Fairy House door—
and Jack-by-the-hedge is there too, quietly doing his work.

A small, steady nursery.
A beginning, held in more than one place.

Thank you, Jill — I didn’t know that. All the more reason to love it.

Thank you — that’s a kind thought. Slowly gathering light again 🌿

Lady’s smock (cuckoo flower) —
four petals in a cross, a quiet member of the cabbage family.

One of the wildflowers I wait for each spring —
and with it, the return of orange tip butterflies.

Their first food. Their beginning.

#WildflowerHour #CabbageFamily
#ClothOfNature #NatureInspiredArt

Beech in early leaf.

Pink-threaded flowers tucked into unfolding leaves, with catkins loosening below — pollen moving through birdsong and air.

A quiet exchange, hidden within the leafing.
Intimate. Almost secret. Quietly revealed.

#NoticingNature #SpringUnfolding #TreeFlowers #NewLeaf

Thank you — there is so much beauty to see. I’m sharing gently, as and when I can.

Thank you — yes, that pattern feels unmistakable when seen up close.

Held in the curve of a shell, beneath the Moon burn, a gathering.

Tadpoles — not yet what they will become, no longer what they were.

They flicker and pause, a loose constellation across pale ridges.

The shell holds them.
The water holds the shell.
The pond holds it all.

The moment holds me.

Cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum).

A pale green cowl holding light, flushed copper-red — as if the plant were kindling fire.

Flies are drawn inside, briefly held, then released carrying pollen.

Ingenious. Slightly scandalous.

Holding the light.
Holding its shape.
Holding something older than memory.

Yes — a soft choreography, catching the light as they turn.

Hooray received — and gratefully so. Keeping on, gently 🌿

A solitary sentinel — yes. The first note of something gathering 🌿

Thank you — that resonates. I’m learning to trust that quieter work of healing 🌿

Thank you, Liz — so kind of you 🌿

Daisy, the wildflower fairy, wishes you a very happy Easter — and all the quiet joys of spring.

#WildflowerFairy #EasterSunday #SpringGarden #ClothOfNature #NatureAndImagination

A brief leave of absence to rest and recover following hospital treatment — resting my eyes and conserving energy.

But I’ve been quietly working towards something new.

I’ll be exhibiting at Hawkers Farm during Dorset Art Weeks (23–31 May).

A meaningful step back into the world after a long pause.

An oak in early leaf — leaves unfurling, spring green washed pink, catkins stitched tight, loosening into tassels.

I picked up a fallen leaf, its structure reduced to a network of veins, and placed a new leaf above

The same pattern — hand, leaf, catkin.

One continuing.
One fading.
One just begun.

A journey to Southampton for eye treatment…

I relaxed my gaze, drifting with blackthorn in full flourish. First footing through waysides dusted with small white flowers — like softly fallen snow — while gorse shone, sunlight caught between blossom clouds.

Nature setting my emotional weather fair.

Thank you — that’s a generous thought. I’m learning to trust the quieter work of healing, even when the path isn’t straightforward.

Thank you — that feels very true. I’m learning (slowly!) that rest isn’t something we lose, but something we return to… and that the world does indeed wait for us. 🌿

Thank you — time really does seem to run ahead of us. I’m moving a little more slowly just now, but these early spring days are good company. 🌿

Thank you, Ian — that’s so interesting. It did seem daintier than those I’ve familiarly encountered. I love how each one has its moment in the season, arriving and giving way in turn 🙂

There, in middle of the lane, a small figure rested — arms lifted, as if in greeting — formed from a forked branch.

A woodland fairy, perhaps. Or a guardian.

I have encountered them before — where attention meets imagination, and make-believe happens.

Writing of them in The Nature of Creativity.