My living room window frames a pink frothy exuberant profusion of blossom. It looks incredible in sunshine, ethereal under grey clouds, and it seems to glow at night time; and the breeze scatters a confetti of petals all around.
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I'm also thoroughly enjoying a book by Isabella Tree called Wilding which recounts how she and her husband, Charlie, took the decision to turn the ancestral farm in Sussex back over to nature. After intensive farming practice had taken it to the edge of bankruptcy, it is now a leading light for conservation in the UK.
It's an incredible read - fascinating, informative, eye opening, poetic. I'm finding myself turning over the corners of so many pages that are filled with revelations, and it's challenging my perceptions of our historical landscape. It truly is a book that gives you pause for thought as well as being current, relevant and pertinent. For example, when first venturing into the idea of re-wilding, they visited a landmark nature reserve in the Netherlands, which had in turn been looking to Africa and the Serengeti as a benchmark for how a successful ecosystem works. No sooner had I read about this than I opened up the newspaper to discover that wildlife of the Serengeti is under threat from human development. Link to article here.
Isabella Tree and husband Charlie Burrell are now part of a network of ecologists and environmentalists working hard to protect, conserve and nurture our precious wildlife and the book about the work they have done so far is an engrossing and inspiring read.
So when some trees that I had ordered a few weeks back arrived, I was all fired up to get them planted out and play my small part in giving nature a helping hand. It was hard work, I ached everywhere, and I was in bed before it was fully dark, but it did feel good.
Amanda xxx
