#30DaysWild | Week 1

Hey lovelies! I mentioned on last week's post all about my trip to Avenham Park with my friends that I was taking part in the Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild Challenge. This conservation and wildlife appreciation initiative encourages people to get out into nature and to do whatever they can to help the local flora and fauna. It's an event to help highlight just how valuable and beautiful the natural world around us is. I decided it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to get back into a hobby that I love so much, which is nature photography! I thought that doing something I really enjoy again, as well as getting out into the fresh air each day would be great for my mental health, too. It's been a lovely experience so far and I wanted to share with you all some of the photographs I've taken :) I hope you all enjoy this post, and if you're not joining in with the challenge already, you can always start your 30 days now! 

I am yet to receive my 30 Days Wild pack from The Wildlife Trust in the post so I'm not sure what the daily prompts and ideas have been, so I've just been doing my own thing for my first week of the challenge :) I feel very lucky to have a lovely garden which I have been spending a lot of time in since the arrival of Spring. I love to feel the grass under my bare feet, to relax and listen to the birds tweeting and singing, and to smell the earthy and floral fragrances around me. It's a really therapeutic feeling and I just love being surrounded by nature. It makes me feel so at place. After having a very tough day last Wednesday because my lizard passed away, it spent pretty much all of Thursday in the garden with both my family and playing my sister's dog. It was almost like my neighbour's cat sensed my sadness because I haven't seen her for a long time and she gave me a surprise visit too. It was lovely to get kitty cuddles! Here are some snippets of Day 1...

Our beautiful Iris

Amari, the gorgeous Bengal X Devon Rex with her stunning pale green eyes!

Managed to get a little Honey Bee in flight, even though my hand was shaking and so I didn't get the greatest angle, oops!

Unfortunately on Friday, my fibromyalgia was causing me lots of problems, which I assume was even more aggravated by the fact that my mental health was so bad too. I didn't have the emotional strength or the energy to go for a walk or anything, and I spent most of the day resting or sleeping. I decided it would be nice to watch the sunset, and so in the evening I took Aurora into the garden to play. We both got very muddy feet as it had been raining on and off all day. 

I love the way the evening sun's glow looks on the tree tops. It's gorgeous!

I absolutely adore the way raindrops look on leaves!

Late evening sky, just before dusk. I loved watching the sky filled with swifts chasing one another. They were cherping so loudly! Aurora was fascinated by them too, haha

On Day 3, I took a little stroll in the evening to the local shop with my parents and on to the post box to mail my (late) monthly Spoonie Post. We decided to walk the longer way home, through some of the street and to the local church which has a sort of garden area with some pretty flowers. I also took this walk as a opportunity to go to the local Pokestop to stock up on pokeballs. I saw the loveliest deep red roses hanging over the wall of someone's garden. They really were so beautiful!

Just look how stunning these roses are!

Such a pretty colour of Rhododendron

Colloquially, we call these 'Spit Bugs' or 'Spittle Bugs' but they are actually the nymphs of an insect called the Froghopper :)

Sunday was a brillant sunny day, and I made the most of it once I eventually woke up from a rather long lie in. What else are Sunday's for though!? My family all come over on a Sunday for dinner so we all sat out in the garden together. My brother and his family had brought along one of their dogs to meet Aurora. It was her very first time playing with another dog so it was lovely to watch her interact with Sandy; they spent most of the afternoon chasing each other around the garden. I enjoyed some delicious chips from the local chippy, and after everyone had gone home, I went to the nearby park on my estaste to take some photographs. Here's a few of them... 

I love that my tiny local park is looking more overgrown and how it did when I was little :)

Buttercups Galore!

The start of this week was incredibly rainy and miserable, and so was my overall mood! I spent the day binge-watching shows on Netflix, some very interesting crime documentaries mostly, and then on my laptop I caught up on some episodes of a new show I've enjoying, a period drama called Jamestown. Is anyone else watching it? Let me know what you think so far :) Equipped with snacks and my bed, I lost track of the entire day! I went out when the sun had already gone down to get some fresh air. I love the smell outside after heavy rain, and I also wanted to see if I could spot any bats. I had to use the flash on my camera but I love how the raindrop-covered flowers I photographed look!

Bright violet Pansy flower

Ferns in the shadows

I especially love the colour of these Geraniums!

I'm really liking the design of the 6th logo with the little Puffins on top :) Tuesday was another tough day for me, mostly because I had an appointment with my therapist. It had been the end of our therapy sessions two months prior to this appointment, which was booked as a 'check in' to see how I'd been getting on. I was really anxious to discuss how I'd been and what had been happening with regards to my recovery, so I had a lot on my mind and I was exhausted so went to chill and watch shows in bed as soon as I could back home. I love the rain but I was worried about my camera getting wet, and with it raining all day so I only managed to capture one photograph on my phone. I love the rain... I love running around outside in it and getting soaked and splashing in puddles and so I went out into the garden in the rain with the dog to enjoy the downpour! Aurora was exploring, sniffing around and disturbed a sleeping moth. It flew out from somewhere near our greenhouse to hide on a leaf, so I snapped a photo as quickly as I could before it flew away. It was great fun to ID this moth, and I discovered it was a Common Marbled Carpet Moth (Dysstroma truncata). Check out the photograph I took over on my instagram. 

To conclude my first week of the 30 Days Wild Challenge, I went to my dad's house to admire all of his flowers. My dad has always loved growing flowers and he used to work as a professional gardener when he was young. I used to love watching my dad gardening and I grew up pretty knowledgable when it came to the common name of flower species. I took so many photographs at his and it was a tough job to choose which photographs to share with you all. I got up close to so many bumble bees, and also got my dad to agree to let me put a insect house in his garden :) Here are my final pictures until next week's post...

My first time ever seeing French Lavender. The bees adored this stuff!

Pretty in pink

My dad's garden hosts the biggest Allium flowers that I've seen in a long time. Looks like Mr Bumble Bee appreciates them too!

If anyone knows what this flower species is, please let me know :)

I totally didn't sneak into a neighbour's garden to take a photographs of their Hydrangea bush

Even though I've had such a tough past week, taking part in 30 Days Wild has been the highlight of each day and has reminded of the simple things in life that make me happy. Nature is such an important part of my life, and it's been nice to have the motivation to get outside everyday even if it's only been for a short time. I can't wait to see what delightful Springtime sights I spot over the next few weeks! 

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

If any of my fellow bloggers are taking part in the Wildlife Trust's challenge, please comment with a link to your posts so I can check them out!

Also, what is everyone's favourite flower, tree and/or British wildlife? 

My answer to this question is Bluebells & Sweetpeas, Oak trees and Japanese Cherry Blossoms, and as for wildlife, so so many! Barn Owls & Red Foxes might be at the top of my list though! 

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