Happy talk

Okay, enough with the doom and gloom. Let's move on to something more cheerful. One of the things I did to ease my anxiety was throw myself into gardening. I'd never been a very good one but I've discovered it's very therapeutic and I've improved somewhat in my gardening skills. I'm now planning to turn the back of the garden into a 'wild' corner, with shrubs and things for garden birds especially. I even signed up as a member of the RSPB, which brings me to the story I wanted to share.

One sunny Sunday we took the children to Hyde Park to feed the wildlife and have a run-around. There's a particular spot where squirrels and small birds are in abundance. We brought peanuts for the squirrels but that day some blue tits were showing great interest in the nuts and seemed quite tame. So I put a couple of peanuts onto the palm of my hand and held it out. To my utter amazement, the tits came to feed on my hand, perching so gently on my fingers. It was incredible! The feeling was indescribable, utterly amazing. I just wish the children were braver and would try it but they were slightly worried about the birds' claws and beaks.

I think a lot of children in this modern age are losing touch with nature, so we try to take ours out as much as possible and expose them to all sorts. They especially love going to farms that allow visitors to feed the animals. We had a blast visiting Farmer Jim's dairy farm up near Sheffield, they have a play/picnic area and do short trips round the farm in a wagon pulled along by a tractor. They also have a corn maze that is designed differently every year so you face a fresh challenge everytime you visit. Hats off to Farmer Jim for his great effort to get children and adults alike involved with animals and farming.

My next objective is to get some baby chicks for the kids to raise. At school they have been hatching chicks two years in a row and have a coop to raise the chickens in, and the children love it! I believe that raising animals teach children responsibility and compassion. As a child I grew up with dozens of chickens and quite a few cats, and it's an experience that I want to pass on to my children. We now have a pet rabbit - three others sadly died due to natural causes - and a few goldfish. I recently bought a beautiful fighter fish that my middle son has declared his own so we named it Kipper. Appropriate, no? Ah well....