Thinking In The Dark : Blackberries

I gathered in the first of the blackberries today – an impressive handful of six weighty berries were very gently placed in the front pocket of my rucksack. (It’s still a bit early for them to be coming out, so I considered myself very fortunate to have gathered six.) I’ve been thinking about blackberries a…

DIY In The Dark : Beachcombed Claw Necklace

So I was beachcombing on Saltburn beach the other day - if you're interested, my previous post is all about it - and I found a particularly fantastic little piece of driftwood shaped something like a claw. A view of the claw before it started its transformation. From the moment I picked it up, I…

Wyrd Days : Saltburn-By-The-Sea

I went beachcombing last night. I scuttled under the immense Jurassic cliffs at Saltburn-By-The-Sea, and filled my carrier bag with rocks and driftwood and more rocks. (I really wanted to find sea glass but only scored two tiny pieces.) It was the first time, in as long as I can remember, that I felt like…

Roadkill : I Will Remember You, My Friend

When I take little Saga out for a walk, I know there’s a likelihood that I’ll encounter roadkill. I walk the country road most of the way, and too many people drive idiotically fast. Usually, I come across rabbits or birds that have been hit, but in the past two days, it’s been hedgehogs –…

Thinking In The Dark : Thistles

Thistles, like foxgloves, can steal me away for hours. If I’m passing by a thistle or a whole host of them, I always, always, always have to stop and drink in their presence. The prickles that we see all over the plant are for defense and protect the thistle from being eaten by most animals.…

Mind In The Dark : The Healing Wild

Today has been fraught with anxiety and a despair so deep I’m astonished that I managed to haul myself out of bed. My patience has been as thin as a new moon and I’ve been shaking for most of the past twelve hours. My chest has been so tight it's as if someone has bound…

Thinking In The Dark : Rain

It’s been raining now for six days. (Though as I type this, it’s starting to peter out and the sun is shouting 'HERE I AM!' Typical.) The grass and the flowers and the worms are loving it, and the birds are singing their hearts out until the witching hour. It’s a welcome relief from the…

Thinking In The Dark : Trees In Horror Movies

Isn’t it astonishing the power trees can have over us? How they can fill us with joy, enough that we could burst, or, at the other end of the spectrum, make us feel so damn terrified that we’re hardly able to process our feelings, but know only that we need to get away from said…

Thinking In The Dark : Pine Trees

I have an affinity for pine trees. I always have, I always will. They're my favourite tree, followed by oak and silver birch. Ever since I was a child, pine trees have held me captivated. I grew up surrounded by evergreen forests, and when the time came that I had to leave them, it felt…

Reading In The Dark : Kith

You can always tell how much I've enjoyed a book by the number of Post-It-Notes I've stuck inside it. By the time I'd finished reading Kith by Jay Griffiths, practically every page was 'noted.' And this has been a running theme with Griffiths's books. Her previous works, Wild, Pip Pip, and Tristimania have all, in…