Sadly, due to the new GPSR regulations, I can no longer post items to Northern Ireland and the EU. Any orders from either destination will be cancelled with my deepest apologies. I am very sorry and am working to find solutions.
On 13th September 2004 I started writing down the things I was noticing on my daily walks with my dog, Sam. I jotted down if I met any wildlife, the things that showed the changes of season, anything and everything about plants, animals, the weather. Why? I had been reading The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden and I was inspired to make something similar. The illustrations started in January 2005 when my Mum bought me a fancy notebook, partially bound in leather. It was too good to use for just anything.
And so my nature journalling began. Over the years I have noticed changes in the numbers of different animals (herons have all but disappeared and barn owls and kestrels are lacking), the evolution of plant species (red campion populations moving from red to pink with the growing numbers of white campion), the introduction of new species to the area (grey squirrels and nuthatches) and the loss of others (hedgehogs and red squirrels). It is like watching evolution in motion.
The illustrations in the journal have been done mainly in pen and ink, although I have done many more in watercolour on separate paper. No doubt I will post some of them over time. Here I have included just a few pages from the illustrated journal. Although all are in pen and ink, some have a watercolour or gouache wash and notes written in pencil.
I have covered mammals, birds, plants, insects and fungi - although I always regretted not going back and sketching the common lizard I found by the roadside. And we don't talk about the dead badger I found and carried home on the hottest day of the summer - just so I could sketch it and take notes on its fur, claws and nose.
Together, the journal and the illustrations give a snippet of my local environment and my interaction with it. I hope you enjoy them.
