Category: 30 Days Wild/ Stay Wild

Keeping Things Simple: A-Z of 30 Days Wild

K is for…

Keeping things simple.

A - Z of 30 Days Wild

One of the things I most love about 30 Days Wild is that it isn’t about expensive days out and organising extravagent activities; it is about celebrating the simple everyday things, slowing ourselves down and stopping to appreciate the small things. It is about reconnecting with nature, and our natural environment. Being, not just doing.

I love how 30 Days Wild achieves so much in so many ways. It helps us to shift our mindset; supporting both of our physical and mental health. As well as fostering a desire to nurture and protect wildlife, and our planet.

Squiggle in the garden. Tree. Blue sky.

On that note, I am not going to rush myself to finish my A-Z by the end of the month. For me, that would contradict the whole purpose of the challenge. There would be little point in stressing over getting that done when I could be outside, watching the birds and observing the insects. Playing with Squiggle. Chilling in the sun. Enjoying just being in the moment.

I love 30 Days Wild. The A-Z will continue, in my own time. It’ll be done when it’s done. And that’s ok with me.

Stay Wild folks. I hope you have loved 30 Days Wild as much as we did. xx

Earning by the Sea: 30 Days Wild Guest Post

My last 30 Days Wild guest post is by
Kaya La Roche, 34 years old, from Margate Kent. She blogs at earningbythesea.co.uk

Guest post 30 days wild. Image Kent castle

What is your favourite nature activity?

We really enjoy woodland walks as a family and walking our dog Lola on the beach. I feel really lucky to live a five minute walk from the sea.

Where is your favourite wild place?

Blean woods near Canterbury in Kent. The woods are beautiful and there are lots of tree carvings and dens for children to explore.

Who or what inspired you to take part in the challenge?

Our local Forest school is taking part and my daughter Willow used to attend there so I saw a picture on their Facebook page.

Where are your favourite outdoor places? Which nature activities do you most enjoy? I would love to hear from you! Tell me in comments.

Hedgehogs, Insects, Identification and Jumping in Puddles! (A-Z of 30 Days Wild)

H is for…
Hedgehogs! We were so excited the one and only time we have ever spotted a hedgehog in our garden!

I is for…
Insects. We really enjoy studying insects, observing them and finding out more about them. We have completed many activities around this topic!

Identification
I is also for identifying the various flora and fauna we come across. Squiggle really engaged with her environment and was keen to know more…

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#30DaysWild – Day 27: Identification Challenge 💚🌿🍃💚 . . . 1. Bluebell seed heads- When the flowers die, green seed pods are formed. By July these will be dry and brown and full of small black seeds. The seeds may take 5 years to develop into a mature flowering bulb. 2. Sheep's sorrel (rumex)- This is edible with a sharp lemon taste. 3. Statchys- Nicknamed lamb's ears because it is soft and furry. My daughter loved the feel of these, and bees love them! 4. Red leaved cherry tree- I don't know if these are edible or not! 🍒 5. These red 'eggs' are caused by parasites (mites?) inside the field maple leaf so the leaf reacts by producing a growth. 6. Blackberry brambles- I look forward to some foraging when they fruit, yummy! 7. Gorse bush- The seed heads explode when ripe so that the seeds spread widely. It also has yellow flowers that smell like coconuts! 8. Chicken of the wood- This edible fungus tastes like chicken, hence the name. 9. Cow parsley- Short lived but very common, it can be found spreading wildly along roadsides, meadows, woods and other places in early summer. . . . Huge thanks to members of 30 Days Wild group and other people who helped me to identify and shared information with me 🌿😊💚 . . . Any mistakes please let me know!

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J is for…
Jumping in puddles!
Squiggle loves puddle jumping!

And even better when they are really muddy puddles!!!

A-Z of 30 Days Wild. Image of red insect
How are your wild adventures going?

Garden, Growing, Grounding… A-Z of 30 Days Wild

G is for…

A-Z of 30 days wild

Garden

We spend alot of time in our garden. We help to encourage wildlife and nature into it, then take the time to enjoy it! During 30 Days Wild, we did many simple activities in our garden that embraces the whole concept of 30 Days Wild. You don’t have to just go on adventures to appreciate wildlife and nature; you do that anywhere!

Growing

We also use our garden for growing our own food. This is something we loved doing as part of 30 Days Wild, and generally too!

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#30DaysWild – Day 6: Grow Your Own

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Grounding

Grounding is such a simple but effective act – walking barefoot on the ground – and one Squiggle does regularly. I really should do it more often too!

F is for… Fungi! A-Z of 30 Days Wild

F is for…

Fungi!

We have quite a fascination with fungi in our family. I am not really sure why; it just seems pretty cool! I dedicated a whole post to fungi facts previously and am including it in my highlights because we always get so excited when we spot some!

Here are a couple of awesome fungi photos we have taken on our 30 Days Wild adventures and beyond…

Fungi image. #30DaysWild highlights. A-Z of 30 Days Wild.

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See the beauty in the little things… 💛

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Fungi images. 30 Days Wild highlights

Becky the Traveller: 30 Days Wild Guest Post

Only a few guest posts left to publish now as we near the end of #30DaysWild for this year. But we do still have one whole week left yet to go – yay! I am really enjoying reading these guest posts and I hope you are too!

Today’s post is written by Becky Angell, 41, from Nottingham…

Becky the Traveller - 30 days wild guest post

What is your favourite nature activity?

Hiking is one of my favourite activities, because it combines my love of nature, wildlife keeping fit and being outdoors (yes even in the rain!)

Where is your favourite wild place?

Can I pick two! Peak District National Park – closest national park to my home, it’s beautiful and great for hiking. Attenborough Nature Reserve, as an avid birdwatcher I love visiting here and seeing the birds but other insects. It’s generally a very peaceful place to be.

Who or what inspired you to take part in the challenge?

I love promoting the outdoors to my readers so why not take my own advice.

Find Becky at the following channels:

Becky the Traveller Blog

Becky the Traveller Facebook

Becky the Traveller Instagram

Damselflies, Daisies, Dandelions… and Early Starts: A-Z of 30 Days Wild

D is for…

Damselflies! We loved watching damselflies in our garden, and when one got too close to our paddling pool we were more than glad to rescue it! Read about that here.

Dandelion image. A-Z of #30dayswild

D is also for daisies and dandelions. We love these simple garden wild flowers. (They are not weeds!) I have enjoyed taking photos of them, Squiggle loves blowing the ‘fluff flowers’ and we had fun making daisy chains as part of 30 Days Wild too. Here are some of my favourite photos…

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What do you wish for? 💚

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#perspective 🌼

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Take a closer look around you…

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E is for…

Early starts! Whilst I am not a morning, Squiggle and I loved watching the sunrise and then headed to the beach for a relaxing Sunday morning. Wonderful!

Life in Rose Tinted Glasses: 30 Days Wild (Guest Post)

Today’s guest post is by George from Gloucestershire, who is completing the 30 Days Wild challenge for the first time. They write over at Life in Rose Tinted Glasses. Read on…

30 Days Wild guest post - life in rose tinted glasses

What is your favourite nature activity?

We love walking the dog up the local hills. They’re easy to access, free to park at and have a play area as well so we all have fun. We love the fact that you can go to them all year round and the views from the top are worth the effort.

Where is your favourite wild place?

Wenchford in the Forest of Dean. It has a little stream that you can paddle in, lovely trails to walk along and a great picnic area. It’s beautiful there, even with the crowds in summer it always feels peaceful and relaxing. We’ve spent hours there and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody moan they are bored!

Who or what inspired you to take part in the challenge?

We need to get outdoors more. We’ve not got out of the habit of staying in since winter and we need to get out and enjoy the little bit of summer England gets.

Birds and Bees… and Click Beetles! (A-Z of 30 Days Wild)

B is for….

Bee image. A-Z of 30 Days Wild

Birds and bees!

We have both loved bird watching and listening to bird sounds as part of 30 Days Wild; this is an annual favourite for me personally! It is amazing when you stay so still and silent, and just really tune into just the birds, how many different ones you will hear! Especially if you catch the right times of day, but really anytime, if you listen closely enough, there are so many different bird voices even in a city. I love just listening. But I also love watching them too!

We did some research on bees, and loved observing a bee close-up; we gave it some sugar water then carefully relocated it after this video clip…

C is for…

Click beetles! We found one in our cloakroom. It was such a fasciniting little thing; such a clever defense mechanism. Insects are amazing!

Which are your favourite activities so far?

Anca’s Lifestyle – 30 Days Wild Guest Post

Sorry, I have been super quiet regarding 30 Days Wild – I haven’t got very far with my alphabet, or any other posts I intended to write for this! It has been a challenging week though to be honest. Onwards and upwards…

Anyway, here is a brief guest post from Anca in Liverpool. Do check out her blog ancaslifestyle.co.uk It’s a lovely blog, she writes about some really cool stuff. We seem to share similar tastes!

30 Days Wild guest post. Image of steel man sculpture at Liverpool beach.

What is your favourite nature activity?

I love walking and exploring. There are so many wonderful things to see in nature and I think the slower pace of walking makes it great for admiring it.

Where is your favourite wild place?

As I love discovering new places, I don’t have a place where I go again and again. I like a local farm though, that has a lovely nature walk besides the farm shop, there are peacocks too.

Who or what inspired you to take part in the challenge?

I want to go out more, hence taking part in this year’s challenge.