Nature – Page 3 – MissElaineous

Elaine Massung July 7, 2017

BRADFORD ON AVON BOUND

Walking is the number one national leisure activity in the UK, with over 9 million people reporting regular outings. However, “walking” doesn’t really capture the complete spectrum of what’s on offer. At the more extreme end are hill walkers, those who relish the ups and downs of the landscape. They typically own several sets of waterproofs, carry flasks of tea or coffee (and plenty of… View Post

Elaine Massung June 30, 2017

SUMMER SOLSTICE STROLL

As an American expat in the UK, the most common question I’m asked is probably “Where in the States are you from?” This is immediately followed by the second most common question: “Wow, Florida! Don’t you miss the nice weather?” To which I can honestly answer no. Don’t get me wrong: I do love blue skies and sun, the ability to wear a… View Post

Elaine Massung June 15, 2017

A STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE

I found myself thinking about Wales recently. You might remember this is where I escaped to carry out a digital detox last year, getting away from the internet for several days in order to clear my head and escape from the constant pressure of always-on connectivity.* Going through my writing from this time was a good reminder of the things… View Post

Elaine Massung June 2, 2017

GIVE WEEDS A CHANCE

I’ve written previously about my love of what many people believe to be a common garden weed: the thistle. I find the flowers attractive and the bees are fond of them too, so that’s reason enough for me to let them grow and direct a very patient MrElaineous to mow around them. This year the more familiar purple spear thistle has… View Post

Elaine Massung May 26, 2017

WATCHING SPRING

This Monday will see BBC’s Springwatch return for the 2017 season. This is one of the few television events I look forward to every year as it provides an opportunity to get an up-close-and-personal look into nest boxes and hedgerows, countryside habitats and coastal hideaways, and discover what the British flora and fauna is getting up to as the weather (hopefully) turns warmer. While the… View Post

Elaine Massung May 5, 2017

BUOYED BY BLUEBELLS

As I mentioned last year, I am not in any way, shape, or form a morning person (although that may be changing … more on that next week). But the siren song of bluebells is enough to lure me out of bed every spring as the small patch of West Woods near Marlborough erupts into a sea of blue. During our recent travels… View Post

Elaine Massung April 28, 2017

ROUSHAM WALKABOUT

Blenheim Palace. Chatsworth. Stourhead. The honours list of top gardens in Britain seemed obvious. So it was with some surprise that MrElaineous and I watched TV presenter Monty Don award this title to Rousham Gardens, a property we had never heard of, despite it being located in Oxfordshire, just a stone’s throw from the mighty Blenheim. Which, come to think of it, is likely one of… View Post

Elaine Massung March 21, 2017

A STORY IN STONE

Ammonites are time travellers from the distant past who took the long way around. Their beauty–and the story they tell–make them one of my favourite things to collect.

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Elaine Massung December 30, 2016

Are you the spider or the fly? 11 lessons after a digital detox

[ Edited January 2019: All Roads Lead to Machynlleth was written at the end of 2016, during a period of my life that I found stressful and overwhelming. Yet looking back, I think it illustrates the power of travel to shake us out of bad habits and routines, and offer new paths to explore. There is no overnight cure for… View Post

Elaine Massung November 11, 2016

Chippenham: Gateway to the World

It’s a running joke that one of Chippenham’s best features is that it allows you to get to other places very easily. It’s practically a stone’s throw from the lovely villages of Lacock and Castle Combe, a short drive to the market town of Malmesbury, the railway station and M4 open Bristol, London, Wales, and beyond to Chippenham residents, and the wonders of… View Post

Elaine Massung October 25, 2016

All Roads Lead to Machynlleth: A Welsh Adventure (Part 3)

[ INTRO ] [ PART 1 ] [ PART 2 ] [ PART 3 ] [ Are You the Spider or the Fly? 11 Lessons for Health and Wellbeing after a Digital Detox ] I’ve spent the last few blog entries writing about everything we saw and did while in mid-Wales, which probably isn’t that surprising—after all, isn’t that the point of going on holiday? Yet none of the things… View Post

Elaine Massung October 18, 2016

All Roads Lead to Machynlleth: A Welsh Adventure (Part 2)

[ INTRO ] [ PART 1 ] [ PART 2 ] [ PART 3 ] [ Are You the Spider or the Fly? 11 Lessons for Health and Wellbeing after a Digital Detox ] The second full day in Wales dawned grey, cloudy, and wet. However, having enjoyed two days of sun and blue skies, we really couldn’t complain, especially since we had planned on this being an inside day—we… View Post

Elaine Massung October 14, 2016

All Roads Lead to Machynlleth: A Welsh Adventure (Part 1)

[ INTRO ] [ PART 1 ] [ PART 2 ] [ PART 3 ] [ Are You the Spider or the Fly? 11 Lessons After a Digital Detox ] It was, I’ll admit, not the most auspicious of starts to our WiFi-free Welsh holiday. Autumn colds had been making the rounds of the office, and this plus work stress… View Post

Elaine Massung October 11, 2016 Staylittle, Wales

Over the Hills and Far Away

[ INTRO ] [ PART 1 ] [ PART 2 ] [ PART 3 ] [ Are You the Spider or the Fly? 11 Lessons for Health and Wellbeing after a Digital Detox ] [ As we make the transition from one year to another, it’s a great time to look ahead to new horizons as well as turn around to see how far we have come. I wrote All… View Post

Elaine Massung May 13, 2016

An Ode to Woodpigeons

A lot of people don’t like woodpigeons. Knowing that I had a half dozen feeders scattered around my garden, a colleague once asked for tips and tricks on how to keep them away when he was setting up his own feeding station. Other friends have gone to elaborate lengths to prevent pigeons from perching on their feeders, preferring to allow only the small garden birds grab… View Post

Elaine Massung April 16, 2016

They grow up so fast …

It was two weeks ago that I posted about watching frog eggs turn into tadpoles, and even after hatching they have been providing me with a great deal of entertainment. The pond is the first place I stop after work; before even going into the house I take a peek to see what’s going on and how the tadpoles are… View Post

Elaine Massung April 14, 2016

Trainspotting

5:30am: Alarm goes off5:30-5:45am: Talk myself into getting out of bed5:45-6:45am: Dress, hair, make up, get ready to face the day6:58am: Train from Chippenham to Swindon This has been my weekday schedule for the past year or so. I am fortunate to have the flexibility to choose my own starting time at work, so these early hours are a deliberate choice. The first hour… View Post

Elaine Massung April 2, 2016

POND LIFE

Spring is a season for new life. Lambs can be seen frolicking in fields across the country, gardens are showing the first flush of colour, and birds are beginning to stake out their territory for nesting. But the sign of spring that had me most overjoyed? The humble frogspawn. Nature’s Calendar, a site run by the Woodland Trust to record… View Post

Elaine Massung March 18, 2016

MEDITATION BY GOOSE

This is Lydiard House and Park, near Swindon in the UK. While the land belonged to the St. John family for over 500 years, the present house was built in the 1740s in the Palladian style, with an adherence to symmetry and use of Classical architectural details. In 1943, the house was sold to the Swindon Corporation, and, for the time… View Post