If you’ve been around here a while you’ll know that each year I take part in The Wildlife Trusts challenge to do something wild every day throughout June. In fact, it’s what sparked the creation of this blog in the first place. You can read posts from previous years here.

Due to a combination of weather, period cramps from hell (sorry if that’s TMI, but hey… it’s *unfortunately* nature), and my poor dog currently stuck wearing his ‘cone of shame’ due to a recent trip to the vets, I’ve had a pretty chill start to this years challenge. Before you ask, my dog is fine… he has an infected seeping sore on his stomach due to catching it on something and then scratching it so he’s stuck inside wearing the cone until the infection clears up a little. He should be back to his normal self in no time, but for now, he’s bashing into everything and knocking stuff over left, right and centre.

The first day of the challenge was spent taking the time to appreciate my back garden. After a few weeks away in Spain I’ve been admiring how green and luscious the English countryside looks, and my overgrown garden (which is currently seriously in need of some TLC) is no exception. The rain definitely has its benefits! We recently invested in a new garden fence, something that was long overdue as our last one blew down in storms a couple of years ago. Now that we’ve got a bit more privacy from the neighbours I’ve been spending more time sat outside and the newly added picnic table, made locally by a craftsman, is getting a lot of use. We’ve also recently purchased a chiminea and I can’t wait for more summer evenings sat by it. Hopefully, we’ll start to get some nice weather again soon, as I’m still feeling a bit chilly after leaving Catalonia!

On day two I took the time to slow down and familiarise myself with my macro lens again. I didn’t take it to Spain so it had been a long time since I’d last picked it up and I am definitely out of practice. Macro nature photography is one of my favourite things to shoot, I get lost in my own little world of miniature and more than any other type of photography it forces me to look at things differently. Unfortunately, the wind picked up a lot throughout the day so I didn’t get to shoot as much as I would have liked, but the dock beetles I found at the end of the garden made it all worth it. Whilst I’m sure they’ve probably been around, these are the first I’ve seen in the garden so I’m pretty happy about that. That metallic green always leaves me in awe!

The blue skies reappeared for at least part of day three, so we took the opportunity to make a start on giving the new fence a coat of paint. We’ve gone for bright purple to add some more colour to the patio and I am super excited to get some bright yellow flowers to contrast against it once it’s complete. I also came across one of my favourite little critters… A weevil! He was munching on our lily, but it’s hard to be mad at something so cute. Their little faces always make me smile!

Day four was grey, and that combined with my poorly pup needing cuddles meant I spent a lot more time indoors. I took the time to work on the video and blog post before this one, as well as doodle some wildlife inspired art. It’s on days like this that you realise that you can still keep a connection with nature no matter where you are. It only takes a few minutes sat on the doorstep appreciating the birdsong to help ground yourself. Once night fell I was treated to a visit from my favourite animals… Bats! After a few years of not having any locally, I’m ecstatic about their return and bat spotting is becoming an almost nightly ritual. They swoop down low over our shed, feasting on the many insects our garden attracts and *hopefully* making a dent in the population of critters that like to feast on me. I am so envious of that small percentage of people who never get bitten because I seemingly smell like a tasty tasty snack and am constantly covered in bites.

The fifth day was all about things that flap. I rescued a stunning moth from my living room, liberating it outside where it will hopefully be a lot happier. Shortly afterwards a speckled wood butterfly briefly landed on my face, which certainly made me jump! It’s moments like that when I really regret not having my camera permanently attached to me. I also caught up with my best friend and her 9 month old daughter on FaceTime, who has earned the nickname baby bat because of how much she likes to flap her arms. I can’t wait until all the adventures we’re going to go on, learning about wild things along the way, when she’s older!

Hopefully I’ll make it further afield in the next five days, but for me this challenge is all about appreciating nature in daily life and making sure to nurture my connection with it whenever I can. Remembering that we as humans are part of nature, not something separate from it. I’ve said it before, but to lose our connection with nature is to lose our connection with ourselves. It really is so important to stop seeing ourselves as something inherently different and separate from the natural world that surrounds us.

If you’d like to know more about the 30 Days Wild challenge check out your local wildlife trust. Local? Click here to be magically transported to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust 30DW website page!