Nature and Other Things to do under the Corona Virus Cloud.

I thought I would pop on here to quickly say hello! I hope you are doing ok and are not too worried over the current situation with COVID-19.

Within a week most of our lives have been turned upside down. Personally, practically overnight my job was put at risk, throwing all of my future plans and aspirations into the air.

But the truth is, many, many people have it far worse. Some have died or lost loved ones, some have already been laid off thanks to the economic impact of COVID-19, with the worry of the health risk of COVID-19 not abating. Some people are too scared to self-isolate as they live hand to mouth and cannot survive on or even qualify for statutory sick pay, which sadly makes things worse.

But of course many of you already know this, and are probably rolling your eyes as you read, especially with information bombarding us left, right and centre. But hearing it constantly, does not make it any less serious.

Nevertheless, I want to make this as nice a place and as positive a place as possible, and as many of you will have probably seen on social media, there are many things that are not cancelled.

‘Spread the word, not the virus.’

Tedros Adhanom, Director-General WHO

Obviously, only if it is safe to do so, here are some ideas to get you through this tough time:

• Get outside into nature; the National Trust has kept open it’s parks and gardens for you to enjoy, blow away those cobwebs! UPDATE: UNFORTUNATELY THEY HAVE NOW CLOSED PARKS AND GARDENS.
• Look for newly emerging wildflowers.
• Try and identify 5 birds by their song/call alone.
• Feed the birds in your garden and count how many you get in 1 hour.
• Draw any birds or flowers etc you find in nature in any medium you fancy. It could be watercolour, pencil, collage, lino prints etc.
• Do some gardening. Plant something or pick some flowers for your home.
• Listen to your favourite music.
• Discover a new podcast.
• Write a letter to a friend or family member.
• Donate to a foodbank or charity (this can be done online if in quarantine).
• Do some shopping for someone who is self-isolating.
• Say hello to someone on the street , a smile can make someone’s day, especially now.
• Make a pitfall trap using a paper cup and identify what invertebrates you find the following morning (use chicken wire to stop any large mammals/birds falling in and put the trap out on a dry night).
• Recommend a book to someone.
• DON’T STOCKPILE FOOD/ESSENTIALS!!!!

There are many other creative ideas you can do from home, to make you more mindful and hopeful.

I am working on further blog posts, but with everything going on, the next one will be later than I had originally hoped. If you want to get in touch, follow me on Instagram (@miss_charlotte_d) for more updates, and let me know what ideas you can think of!

Stay safe and sensible!

Xx