Country diary: sit down and let the wildlife come to you

Welburn, North Yorkshire: You’d be surprised what turns up if you just settle a while in your own back garden

I say it a lot, but don’t take my own advice enough. Experiencing nature is about slowing down – stopping, in fact. The stiller you stay, the more you see. Nature confides when you’re not blundering through it. But that’s only half the story. The rest is attention. It takes mental effort to stand, orient, step and not fall on your face. Backroom brainwork for sure, but it still absorbs neural capacity, and so the best way to see is to sit.

The bench under the kitchen window is as good a place for this as I know. Three metres from the bird feeder, a bed of overgrown lavender and rosemary, a backdrop of grass too scruffy to be called a lawn and a wooded slope that limits the horizon to less than 100 metres. We’re lucky, I know it. In this space, if need be, we can exercise the dog and ourselves. We can feel the sun, listen to the birds, sniff the wind without fearing what the air might contain.

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Country diary: sit down and let the wildlife come to you

Welburn, North Yorkshire: You’d be surprised what turns up if you just settle a while in your own back garden

I say it a lot, but don’t take my own advice enough. Experiencing nature is about slowing down – stopping, in fact. The stiller you stay, the more you see. Nature confides when you’re not blundering through it. But that’s only half the story. The rest is attention. It takes mental effort to stand, orient, step and not fall on your face. Backroom brainwork for sure, but it still absorbs neural capacity, and so the best way to see is to sit.

The bench under the kitchen window is as good a place for this as I know. Three metres from the bird feeder, a bed of overgrown lavender and rosemary, a backdrop of grass too scruffy to be called a lawn and a wooded slope that limits the horizon to less than 100 metres. We’re lucky, I know it. In this space, if need be, we can exercise the dog and ourselves. We can feel the sun, listen to the birds, sniff the wind without fearing what the air might contain.

Continue reading...

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Coronavirus: What it means for home buyers Nottingham Estate Agents

The coronavirus pandemic is having a drastic effect on the property industry. The certainty provided by the election of a majority government in December, which saw buyers and sellers who had been holding off amid uncertainty over Brexit getting busy again, feels like a long time ago. That renewed demand saw 103,870 homes sold in […]

The post Coronavirus: What it means for home buyers appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Let’s move to Linlithgow, West Lothian: Silicon Glen capital with a regal past

There’s still romance here, but the seat of monarchs has given way to humble, suburban dreams

What’s going for it? Linlithgow wears its 21st-century role as a commuter town in the sweet spot between Edinburgh and Glasgow in the way a megastar of stage or screen might – someone who, in later life, has had cause to stack shelves in Lidl. Nothing wrong with stacking shelves or, indeed, Lidl. But Linlithgow has known grander times. This, I’ll have you know, is the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow, and it has the palace to prove it, ta-dah on its hilltop pedestal, as if anyone could ignore it. Don’t you know who I was? True, the palace lacks a roof these days. Yet this palace gave birth to Mary, Queen of Scots. This palace was the centre of the Stuart dynasty. This palace’s fountain once flowed with wine, it’s said, for the marriage of James V and Mary of Guise. Still, those days have long gone. Although there’s romance still in its polished old streets, today it’s a romance designed, not as a stage set for monarchy, political intrigue and government, but for more humble, suburban dreams, and propping up house prices. Linlithgow has grown accustomed to its new role: capital of Silicon Glen, Queen of Middle Scotland, provider of comfy sofas and Netflix filming locations to the strivers of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The case against… It’s a small town of commuters: kids and beatniks will want to escape – though worry not, the fleshpots of Edinburgh and Glasgow are nearby. It’s a victim of its own popularity: traffic, parking, house prices and oversubscribed schools.

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Turning crap into gold: why a composting habit will change your life

In the era of Covid-19, we’ve had to move away from bring-your-own containers and reusable coffee cups – composting can help ease the burden

I have never laughed, cried and wanted to make brown butter apple cake more than now.

We don’t know how long it will be before we emerge from our chrysalises into the world again. But while we’re at home many of us seem to have paused to reflect on our consumption choices.

I hope we keep our newfound habits and do not fall back on old ones. The soul-benefiting DIY posts from around the world already feel like exactly what social media, in its best light, was built for.

Another realisation I’ve noticed in this quest for improvement is the process of literally dealing with one’s crap, whether it’s the spiritual, physical or organic variety.

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Turning crap into gold: why a composting habit will change your life

In the era of Covid-19, we’ve had to move away from bring-your-own containers and reusable coffee cups – composting can help ease the burden

I have never laughed, cried and wanted to make brown butter apple cake more than now.

We don’t know how long it will be before we emerge from our chrysalises into the world again. But while we’re at home many of us seem to have paused to reflect on our consumption choices.

I hope we keep our newfound habits and do not fall back on old ones. The soul-benefiting DIY posts from around the world already feel like exactly what social media, in its best light, was built for.

Another realisation I’ve noticed in this quest for improvement is the process of literally dealing with one’s crap, whether it’s the spiritual, physical or organic variety.

Continue reading...

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Let’s move to Linlithgow, West Lothian: Silicon Glen capital with a regal past

There’s still romance here, but the seat of monarchs has given way to humble, suburban dreams

What’s going for it? Linlithgow wears its 21st-century role as a commuter town in the sweet spot between Edinburgh and Glasgow in the way a megastar of stage or screen might – someone who, in later life, has had cause to stack shelves in Lidl. Nothing wrong with stacking shelves or, indeed, Lidl. But Linlithgow has known grander times. This, I’ll have you know, is the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow, and it has the palace to prove it, ta-dah on its hilltop pedestal, as if anyone could ignore it. Don’t you know who I was? True, the palace lacks a roof these days. Yet this palace gave birth to Mary, Queen of Scots. This palace was the centre of the Stuart dynasty. This palace’s fountain once flowed with wine, it’s said, for the marriage of James V and Mary of Guise. Still, those days have long gone. Although there’s romance still in its polished old streets, today it’s a romance designed, not as a stage set for monarchy, political intrigue and government, but for more humble, suburban dreams, and propping up house prices. Linlithgow has grown accustomed to its new role: capital of Silicon Glen, Queen of Middle Scotland, provider of comfy sofas and Netflix filming locations to the strivers of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The case against… It’s a small town of commuters: kids and beatniks will want to escape – though worry not, the fleshpots of Edinburgh and Glasgow are nearby. It’s a victim of its own popularity: traffic, parking, house prices and oversubscribed schools.

Continue reading...

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