Jason Alexander
Debbie Cripps
Gill Sim
Cathy Lewis
Brydon Thomason
Paul & Ryan Edwards
John Campbell
Ben Macdonald
Michael Leigh-Mallory
Ian Hayward - RSPB
Darren Woodhead
Travelling Whisperers
Young Whisperer Reporters
Hugh Miles
A Moving Experience
Added 16/08/2011 to Simon's Blog
I hadn’t really appreciated just how important having a home is, for a sense of wellbeing. Don’t misunderstand me, I am very, very lucky and for the past few years been living (when in the UK) in a cottage in Somerset. We always had plans to extend the house, or even to build an entirely new one on the plot, and so never really did very much to the existing property during our time there. The result was it felt a bit like we were camping.
We recently moved to a very beautiful old farmhouse, still in Somerset, with some lovely grounds including a brook. The effect of the move has been profound on my psyche. In the very brief time I have been here, the variety of life on my doorstep has been astounding. Woodland and farmland bird species are all around, from green and great spotted woodpecker to yellowhammer and bullfinch. Peregrines sometimes soar overhead, hobbies dash over the trees chasing swallows and a buzzard sits in a tree by the brook scanning the field for voles. Kestrels, a bird in decline over much of the nation, nested in the grounds, and the meadows hum to the stridulations of a thousand grasshoppers and the beat of dragonfly and butterfly wings!
The entire place is loaded with potential. I’ve heard kingfishers flying along the brook and seen the remains of sparrowhawk kills by the bridge. The voices of foxes and tawny owls pour through my open bedroom window by night, and the signs of snuffling badgers are all around. It has been a long time - 11 years or so -since I have had a sense that a single place was where I should lay my hat, but this is it. That’s not to say that my travelling days are over though. It’s likely I shall be in Kenya in October and India in November. And before that we have a long list of projects that will keep me on the road, from the Bird Fair at Rutland Water to a number of other events dotted around the country, including some very exciting new projects next year. But the feeling of wanting to come ‘home’ is more pronounced in me now than it has been for over a decade. Every day that I am away, I shall have the feeling I am missing something. What a marvellous, fortunate, delicious dilemma!
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Posted by Simon King
This entry was tagged Garden, Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Peregrine, Kestrels, Swallows, Meadows, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk
Congratulations on your family's move to a very beautiful & wildlife packed place Simon, as well as the peace and well being it has obviously brought you. May you enjoy many, many happy, tranquil and exciting times there together.
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what a beautiful garden and its amazing to see that you have badgers in your garden
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wow what a great garden and grounds it looks very nice.it looks like you will be busy with filling up the seeds all round your garden.once you start and get round you will have to do it all over again good luck.
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Wow your garden looks amazing! I'm so pleased that you and your family are so happy there. Long may it continue!
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Note to other contributors....... don't copy and paste a comment as the punctuation marks come out as gobble-de-gook as seen below!! Never mind!
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To have wildlife around you as you describe must be a dream come true. We have encouraged many garden birds to our garden and are currently enjoying watching a family of long-tailed tits as well as a family of sparrows which must number upwards to thirty or so. My dream would be to live close to kingfishers, but the trick to gain “a sense of wellbeing†I guess is to learn to appreciate what is actually on your own doorstep. Using your own words Simon, we wish you, Marguerite, Savannah and all of your family ‘peace and light’ in your new home. May it always be a haven of love and happiness. Graham & Audrey.
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I wish you all the best in your new home. Its nice to have a place where you can be fully your own self. And remember: don't forget to stop alongside of the road to smell the beautifull roses. ( its an american saying).
Bye bye for now.
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It is such a delight to find a place that you feel so comfortable living in. It makes the stress of the move so much more bearable. Now is the exciting part of the familiarisation of your local habitat, getting to know all the wildlife. I hope you have many happy years there
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Sound like an ideal place to start your next project
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