Book Review: The Secret Language of Animals by Janine M Benyus

An exquisite reference guide to the behaviour of animals, written without clinical distance but instead a warm, familial, empathic understanding of our sentient non-human cousins. Five stars.

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #93

Explore creepy rings, a two headed tortoise, a mini moon garden and much more in the 93rd edition of 10 Interesting Things on the Internet. Here is to hoping that the new year brings you all you ever hope for. I hope these tasty tidbits make you chuckle and feel warm inside.

Comforting Thought: Soft Fascination

We pay attention differently when we are in nature. This is called ‘soft fascination’ The great 19th century thinker William James (brother of novelist Henry James) proposed that there are two ways of paying attention. The first is voluntary and directed, which is used for tasks that demand concentration. For example doing work, walking alongContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Soft Fascination”

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #92

See a mini pony take his first shy steps on specially made legs, a Gibson Girl riding a lobster, some serene paintings by Iris Scott and some frenetic modern punk music. It’s all here. Enjoy edition #92!

Comforting Thought: The blue of distance, the green of time

“The colour of hills that recede layer upon layer into the horizon. Well this is the green of time. The green that grows from nothing, anything if left for long enough.” It comes at first as mildew and mould. A misting of green-grey, or mustard-green, the green of decay. But then it grows into a verdant palette of new life: leaf green, lime green, the green of fresh new shoots.

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #91

Noekken Som Hvit Hest by Theodor Severin Kittelsen Nøkken som hvit hest, 1909 ‘The Nix as a white horse’ is a painting by Norwegian artist Theodor Severin Kittelsen (b. 1857 – d. 1914) He is well known in Norway but less so in other parts of the world for his nature and fantasy paintings depictingContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #91”

Ancient Word of the Day: Komorebi

This Japanese word has no direct translation to English but means ‘the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees’. It is made up of three Kanji characters: 木 means tree 漏 means ‘to leak’ or ‘to escape’ 日 means sun Komorebi 木漏日 ~ from Japanese. ‘Sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees The wordContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Komorebi”

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #90

In edition #90, we take a gander at the threads worn by medieval maidens, wear plastic helmets in the hairdressers, understand female shamanism and sip some healthy drinks and much more. I hope you enjoy these… The colours of medieval fashion were natural, warming and comforting I love the deep marigolds and oranges here. TheyContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #90”

Comforting Thought: Hens are the goodness of the universe

This morning, a friend and I hung over the half door, watching a mother hen feeding her chickens. The hen bustled around breaking up the bread into crumbs small enough to feed her tiny, hungry offspring. The clucking sound she made was the essential sound of motherhood, the goodness of the universe was in thatContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Hens are the goodness of the universe”

Poignant Thought: The Wild Cows on the Island of Swona

In the mid-20th Century, on the remote island of Swona in Scotland, the Rosie family kept animals including a herd of cows. As the decades wore on, their children moved away and the elderly stalwarts of the family stayed on and eventually died there. Moving of the cattle from the island would have been tooContinue reading “Poignant Thought: The Wild Cows on the Island of Swona”