Yesterday, I was really tired. I’d had a whole morning of working on my laptop and with three hours of online training still to come, I needed some ‘tree time’. So after eating lunch, I nipped over to Peartree Green, the local nature reserve I help to look after as a volunteer. I’m really luckyContinue reading “The fruits of ignorance”
Author Archives: jilldday
A sense of place
“What are you doing?” This was the question a little boy asked me on Christmas Eve morning. “Picking up rubbish so the birds can find some food”, I replied. “Okay!” he answered, and off he went. Moments later, a gull landed on the grass and started rooting around for worms, as if it had justContinue reading “A sense of place”
Favourites and familiars
This post was inspired by something that happened a few months ago. I’ve sometimes found run-over hedgehogs on the road near my house, and I usually bury them. I can’t bear the thought of a hog just lying there like a piece of rubbish. So one morning when I saw a brownish shape in theContinue reading “Favourites and familiars”
Peartree Green: after the fire
On 12 August 2022, after weeks of dry, hot weather, the inevitable happened: there was a serious fire on Peartree Green local nature reserve. I was sitting in our garden when my partner came out around 5 pm and said, “Something’s on fire over there”. I turned to look and said, “Oh my god, thatContinue reading “Peartree Green: after the fire”
Outdoor Learning: Noticing Nature
Not surprisingly for a nature-lover, one of my favourite parts of working in outdoor learning at Youth Options was when young people showed an interest in the natural world around them. Sometimes this was in the forest school area, and other times it was out on a walk around Itchen Valley Country Park, where weContinue reading “Outdoor Learning: Noticing Nature”
When is it lunchtime?
In my last blog post in January, 8 months ago, I was about to start a permanent post with Youth Options, after first volunteering, then working on a casual basis with them since October 2020. As a casual worker, a lot of my job was working at holiday club, so it’s fitting that my finalContinue reading “When is it lunchtime?”
From one ELF to another
Just over a year ago, I was a ‘serious’ academic*, teaching and carrying out research at the University of Southampton. My specific area was English as a Lingua Franca, or ELF. By Christmas 2021, I was dressed as the kind of elf more familiar to most people, playing in the woods with three year-olds, workingContinue reading “From one ELF to another”
Litter pick challenge
What you see above is probably a typical image that strangers in my area have of me. Rummaging in a hedge, pulling out litter! I find it hard to ignore rubbish, and even more so when it’s somewhere green, somewhere that wildlife should be finding food or a home. We’re fortunate to have several greenContinue reading “Litter pick challenge”
My year in the Nature Zone
As soon as I spent my first afternoon in the Nature Zone at Wordsworth Primary School on 24 September 2020, I was hooked. What an amazing place! It was set up by the children in 2014 under the guidance of Steve, the outdoor learning tutor. (He’s also a film-maker and has shared a series ofContinue reading “My year in the Nature Zone”
Helping Hedgehogs
One Sunday afternoon in August 2020, the day after we’d had this hole cut in the fence, we heard a commotion in the alley on the other side. The little girl who lives over the road had spotted a hedgehog. They shouldn’t be out in daylight, so we brought it into our garden, tucked itContinue reading “Helping Hedgehogs”
Dandelion Nature 