It seems there's a new programme he's doing in the UK - sounds as though it's a slightly less ebullient and perhaps more beautiful version of farming than Jeremy Clarkson's.
That said, I've loved and laughed at all to do with Diddly Squat Farm. I do hope we get access to Jules' programme though.
Beautiful photos of where you walked, I liked learning about the Japanese words, I'm in love with the hearts your making, and we're watching Muster Dogs upon your recommendation. I noticed an interesting thing last night while watching the episode: the trainers don't call their puppies by their names while the pups are in training, unless they know the pups will come to them. I had to think about that for a bit, and it makes sense. We're also going to check out what else you're watching - thanks for the recs!
It's a very simple manner of training and makes so much sense, doesn't it? I think that even though it's for working dogs, the groundwork is still the same. Channelling enthusiasm into positive outlets...
just back home from a spot of forest bathing, it's the best isn't it....actually i think the smell of salty, seaweedy, rough seas is actually better for me, but the bush is a close second. I grew up on the beach or playing in the bush so both places hold special parts of my heart. I love the colours and patterns on the forked tree trunk in the foreground of one of your photos. I love that other older cultures than my heritage have words to describe the benefits, clearly they are much more aware of the importance and benefits.
We are watching Muster Dogs as it airs, but gosh I want to binge and see how it all ends. Also watching Darby and Joan and I'm liking it, it's easy, it causes no upsets, it's just wholesome and sometimes that's what I want, something that soothes and calms rather than pokes and jabs.
Here's to another week of love, kindness and tolerance
That forked trunk image, Kate, was taken on a walk in the Central Highlands. It's a very Alpine view, isn't it? The colours are stunning and I'd like to emulate them one day - a cushion, a heart, something tangible.
This week's viewing with Muster Dogs and Darby and Joan has been so gentle. i go to be sustained, actually. I almost think I'm done with poking and jabbing. I've been on the verge of leaving Facebook so many times for just that.
As you say - kindness and tolerance. Thanks for reading. Take care...
We’ve been away for a month, holidaying in cities and I’ve so missed being surrounded by barely tamed nature. Parks and gardens provide a green respite but nothing is quite the same as the wilds!
Very beautifully written: I could feel myself relaxing just reading it. I never understand people who walk along in tranquil life-giving surroundings like the forest near me or even our local park with their eyes glued to their phone.
Wait: 16 degrees is COOL where you are? That sounds like a heatwave to me.
Terry, it is cool in summer for that sort of temperature. But tomorrow we expect 25, then 30 on Monday and high 20's for the rest of the week. Hoorah! Mermaid weather!
And thank you for your kind praise.
Have to say I HATE seeing folk powering along with ear buds and phones and absolutely no knowledge whatever of shinrin-yoku.
TOTALLY agree! I find it so disrespectful when people are out with their dogs and they are completely oblivious to everything but the phone screen. Sometimes I see the dogs looking up into their owner's face for acknowledgement and then turning sadly away.
A beautiful read, Prue. I found nature to my solace when trekking through the deep undergrowth of grief. How everything seems to make sense when we stand back and see ourselves as part of the bigger picture...and detach ourselves from the bothers of life.💙🙏🏻❄️
Alice - 'the deep undergrowth of grief'. Such a visual there of grasping, creeping vines. But it does all make a little sense when we are in nature. I find that troublesome issues become smaller in the grandness and size of what surrounds me, and the fact that many trees and plants have grown for millenia and will grow for millenia more and the oceans will roll in and out to infinity is calming and reassuring.
Oh Prue, this is wonderful. The tree ferns are gorgeous - my parents had a Dicksonia Antarctica (we called him 'Dickson' for short, for plants are people, after all) in a sheltered part of their garden for years, but sadly it's no longer there.
I love the idea of forest bathing, and am enthralled by your fascinating Japanese references. Fabulous!
I talk to my garden all the time. Especially the little Matchbox which grows so beautifully and is left alone for such long periods with no care except for automatic watering.
There's something so elemental and profound about these Japanese concepts. It makes me want to study so much more of the Japanese idea. If one looks behind their arts, there is often a spiritual root that grounds the practice - even things like bonsai and ikebana.
I'd love to read more around Japanese concepts such as ikigai, and the wonderful arts of ikebana and bonsai. Such skill and patience! A friend at school had a passion for bonsai, and I found the idea absolutely extraordinary.
Oh bless you. I should explain. The Matchbox is what I call our small townhouse garden - the tiny garden we built from scratch when we purchased the townhouse - nine years ago. The plan is that it will sustain our sensibilities when we can no longer live on the coast, far from medical services and unable to drive. The Matchbox is our insurance against city madness! But isn't the bean fascinating?
Re Japanese concepts, I have a 'thing' about much of Japanese art-practice. It's so Zen - the philosophy is built into the creative endeavour. We need to study it more...
LOL Prue, silly me! I should have twigged because of the capital M of Matchbox! What a lovely name for the townhouse garden - I love it! And any 'insurance against city madness', well, I love even MORE! 😍
A gorgeous, thoughtful post, Prue—I loved every word! I will be reading this one many times over.
The lovely Japanese concepts were a very timely reminder for me—today, I’m leaving our peaceful woodlands for a week, going to a smallish but very busy and loud town. I’m storing up lots of forest bathing vibes for my time away!
This was a beautiful peaceful piece. You captured all those lovely concepts into the way you described them, through both words and photos. Lovely, lovely. Am currently enjoying the coastal/ocean version of bathing this week as we spend time at one of our favourite California coastlines. It's not all play, but the hour or so each day we spend fully embracing the waterline is so restorative. As is the balmy temperature! Can't wait to see which of your recommendations are available in the UK, once we return. For now, we are off all TV and streaming and it is a great break as well. Thank you for providing a well-written piece of joy and calm! Good luck with terrier rehabilitation!
The very idea of no TV and streaming is pretty good. There have been nights this summer, where we've switched off the TV and let Spotify mollycoddle us with Easy Jazz or Coastal Grandmother music.
Gentle. Thoughtful. Connected to something beyond ourselves. Thank you, friend, for the imagery and encouragement. I think you know I had my own shirin-yoku experience last fall, which was marvelous. (https://elizabethbeggins.substack.com/p/go-there)
Alas, it's winter here now, and my work schedule is all meetings and conferences, and I've fallen out of practice again. We are not so cold as to make being outdoors miserable. There are no excuses. I wish I did not let myself slip out of the habit so easily!
Last but far from least, my deep gratitude for the mention here, particularly among such masterful writers (you included). I'm honored, Prue.
There are others too - Rebecca Holden, Sabrina Simpson, Terry Friedman and more. People who give me views into lives other than our own isolated and narrow one.
When life intrudes, it's easy to slip into old patterns. I know when I'm in the city for any length of time, walking diminishes by half, simply because I hate tarmac, cement and crowds. There are bush walks close by though, and when the cooler months approach, if we are in the city, we hope to be more disciplined. But it has to be a conscious effort.
Essentially though, we really are country/coast mice.
I’m noticing the words isolated and narrow. In some ways, we all are subject to living little lives, by nature of being human. But I think you meant it in relation to where you live. Ironically, I don’t see that as isolated or narrow. It feels expansive and adventuresome to me! We are a quirky bunch, aren’t we? 😊
As always so much synchronicity to report yet again! This piece was so interesting and I absolutely marvel at your pics - it's a fauna like no other, isn't it? (Bit alarming about those snake fellows though ...) I love Jules as well and enjoyed his YouTube very much - and regarding the series you mention, I have not yet seen BUT I lived on the Isle of Man myself when my parents took an early retirement there! I look forward to reading your writing very much each week and yes! I am truly going to wade into the Substack pond as well very soon ... You inspire me - and those felt hearts are gorgeous as well. The most gentle of hugs to That Terrier as well.
It is odd fauna, for sure. Gondwana Land - shades of the far distant past and the era of dinosaurs, I suppose. Odd flora too.
You lucky thing living on the Isle of Man. I say that to Sabrina who lives on the Isle of Wight. In fact, I think anyone who lives on an island is incredibly lucky. There's something about islands...
Mike Sowden's Everything is Amazing (Substack) is looking at the many and varied aspects of islands this year and I look forward to it.
Thank you from the Terrier. He's getting better. He now lets me pull a sock over the sore foot (with muzzle on) with no snapping whereas before there were snapping teeth everywhere. He is allowed to swim in clean water in his little doggy pool and just got wet all over for the first time in a month. While he was in it, I worked the cold water into his coat and down to his skin and he loved it (its hot and windy today). He was so salty and sandy when all this kicked off and has been so uncomfortable, so this was very special. Another 3 weeks to go and I'll be down to that beach with him like a shot!
You know that when you come to Substack, I'll be recommending you to everyone!
Lovely piece and pics. Nature as a meditation, a cure.. so true. It always helps.
Have you seen Live to 100; Secrets of the Blue Zones on Netflix? They visit cities around the world where people mysteriously live longer than average. One of the places is Okinawa. The Japanese are onto something. Great documentary.
Yes, CK. I mentioned it in this piece, see above. Blue Zone on Netflix about living longer with quality of life? I was struck by the quiet grace of the Okinawans. There is a lot to be said for a gentle, philosophical outlook on life and the Asian culture has much of that - more so, I think than the white Western world.
Oh. Haha. I missed it. I love your recommendations. The Asian culture is also extremely family oriented. They revere their elders. Unfortunately we do not see this is in the US.
I share your ikigai. Learning about all sorts of things, which is why I had such a difficult time figuring out what to be when I grew up. My interests were so varied that I couldn't settle on one as a career path. It took many years but I eventually earned a degree at the age of 50! I thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of college courses I took, everything from Biology/Physiology to Women Writers to Sociology...a true Liberal Arts education!
And don't feel guilty about not reading/writing so much...you're busy doing other important work. I've reached the point of not pressuring myself about things I didn't get done. I do the most important chores for that day and then I take time for my personal projects (reading, writing, volunteering.) I do what compels me and today that was a new project for 2024: art journaling. I plan to include these wonderful Japanese terms in my notebook, so thank you for introducing them to us.
True - we need to ease up on the pressure, don't we?
and congrats on your mature age degree. Sometimes I wonder if we push youngsters to go to university too early - both my kids needed a gap year or two at the very least.
I had none. I went straight into a solid Arts degree but if I had my way, I might have combined the subjects from other faculties. As it was, I managed to sneak in a law subject and the boffins nearly had heart failure that anyone should do such a thing!
I'm journalling more these days too - thoughts, feelings. Wish I could draw, it'd be lovely to add into the mix.
Have a look at this week's art journal from Rebecca Holden on Substack - about marmalade. It's perfect!
Actually, it was Rebecca who mentioned Wanderlust, the online mixed media course I signed up for! She took it awhile back and has shared some lovely photos of her work. I'm a newbie at art, so whether I share anything remains to be seen (or not seen!) :)
I’m now subscribed to Jules Hudson’s YouTube channel. Thanks for that. Nature is so powerful. Thanks for all your beautiful insights. Hugs dear Prue.
Hello there, Beth!
I love Jules. He's got a wonderful belly laugh!
It seems there's a new programme he's doing in the UK - sounds as though it's a slightly less ebullient and perhaps more beautiful version of farming than Jeremy Clarkson's.
That said, I've loved and laughed at all to do with Diddly Squat Farm. I do hope we get access to Jules' programme though.
Beautiful photos of where you walked, I liked learning about the Japanese words, I'm in love with the hearts your making, and we're watching Muster Dogs upon your recommendation. I noticed an interesting thing last night while watching the episode: the trainers don't call their puppies by their names while the pups are in training, unless they know the pups will come to them. I had to think about that for a bit, and it makes sense. We're also going to check out what else you're watching - thanks for the recs!
It's a very simple manner of training and makes so much sense, doesn't it? I think that even though it's for working dogs, the groundwork is still the same. Channelling enthusiasm into positive outlets...
Cheers, Mary.
just back home from a spot of forest bathing, it's the best isn't it....actually i think the smell of salty, seaweedy, rough seas is actually better for me, but the bush is a close second. I grew up on the beach or playing in the bush so both places hold special parts of my heart. I love the colours and patterns on the forked tree trunk in the foreground of one of your photos. I love that other older cultures than my heritage have words to describe the benefits, clearly they are much more aware of the importance and benefits.
We are watching Muster Dogs as it airs, but gosh I want to binge and see how it all ends. Also watching Darby and Joan and I'm liking it, it's easy, it causes no upsets, it's just wholesome and sometimes that's what I want, something that soothes and calms rather than pokes and jabs.
Here's to another week of love, kindness and tolerance
That forked trunk image, Kate, was taken on a walk in the Central Highlands. It's a very Alpine view, isn't it? The colours are stunning and I'd like to emulate them one day - a cushion, a heart, something tangible.
This week's viewing with Muster Dogs and Darby and Joan has been so gentle. i go to be sustained, actually. I almost think I'm done with poking and jabbing. I've been on the verge of leaving Facebook so many times for just that.
As you say - kindness and tolerance. Thanks for reading. Take care...
We’ve been away for a month, holidaying in cities and I’ve so missed being surrounded by barely tamed nature. Parks and gardens provide a green respite but nothing is quite the same as the wilds!
The Huon will wrap itself around you again.
Very beautifully written: I could feel myself relaxing just reading it. I never understand people who walk along in tranquil life-giving surroundings like the forest near me or even our local park with their eyes glued to their phone.
Wait: 16 degrees is COOL where you are? That sounds like a heatwave to me.
It’s summer down here. 16 degrees is decidedly chilly for our wonderful Aussie summers.
Terry, it is cool in summer for that sort of temperature. But tomorrow we expect 25, then 30 on Monday and high 20's for the rest of the week. Hoorah! Mermaid weather!
And thank you for your kind praise.
Have to say I HATE seeing folk powering along with ear buds and phones and absolutely no knowledge whatever of shinrin-yoku.
TOTALLY agree! I find it so disrespectful when people are out with their dogs and they are completely oblivious to everything but the phone screen. Sometimes I see the dogs looking up into their owner's face for acknowledgement and then turning sadly away.
And children too sometimes
A beautiful read, Prue. I found nature to my solace when trekking through the deep undergrowth of grief. How everything seems to make sense when we stand back and see ourselves as part of the bigger picture...and detach ourselves from the bothers of life.💙🙏🏻❄️
Alice - 'the deep undergrowth of grief'. Such a visual there of grasping, creeping vines. But it does all make a little sense when we are in nature. I find that troublesome issues become smaller in the grandness and size of what surrounds me, and the fact that many trees and plants have grown for millenia and will grow for millenia more and the oceans will roll in and out to infinity is calming and reassuring.
Yes, exactly that, Prue. It's like I feel I can breathe into anything, knowing it's all part of something bigger.
Oh Prue, this is wonderful. The tree ferns are gorgeous - my parents had a Dicksonia Antarctica (we called him 'Dickson' for short, for plants are people, after all) in a sheltered part of their garden for years, but sadly it's no longer there.
I love the idea of forest bathing, and am enthralled by your fascinating Japanese references. Fabulous!
Thank you, Rebecca.
I talk to my garden all the time. Especially the little Matchbox which grows so beautifully and is left alone for such long periods with no care except for automatic watering.
There's something so elemental and profound about these Japanese concepts. It makes me want to study so much more of the Japanese idea. If one looks behind their arts, there is often a spiritual root that grounds the practice - even things like bonsai and ikebana.
Ooooh, I'm fascinated by your Matchbox - I've never heard of a plant by that name. I've just Googled it - is this it? https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/162325-Entada-phaseoloides What a fascinating plant!
I'd love to read more around Japanese concepts such as ikigai, and the wonderful arts of ikebana and bonsai. Such skill and patience! A friend at school had a passion for bonsai, and I found the idea absolutely extraordinary.
Oh bless you. I should explain. The Matchbox is what I call our small townhouse garden - the tiny garden we built from scratch when we purchased the townhouse - nine years ago. The plan is that it will sustain our sensibilities when we can no longer live on the coast, far from medical services and unable to drive. The Matchbox is our insurance against city madness! But isn't the bean fascinating?
Re Japanese concepts, I have a 'thing' about much of Japanese art-practice. It's so Zen - the philosophy is built into the creative endeavour. We need to study it more...
LOL Prue, silly me! I should have twigged because of the capital M of Matchbox! What a lovely name for the townhouse garden - I love it! And any 'insurance against city madness', well, I love even MORE! 😍
A gorgeous, thoughtful post, Prue—I loved every word! I will be reading this one many times over.
The lovely Japanese concepts were a very timely reminder for me—today, I’m leaving our peaceful woodlands for a week, going to a smallish but very busy and loud town. I’m storing up lots of forest bathing vibes for my time away!
Wrap a tiny something of your woodlands in a hankie and slip it in your pocket. It's a tangible reminder then to have peace in a loud environment.
I often have a tiny shell in my own pocket. And I feel it the way people use worry beads.
This was so helpful, Prue! I really did feel more peaceful while I was away 😊
If I can write weekly essays that are peaceful, then I'm happy, Susan. Thank you for reading.
This was a beautiful peaceful piece. You captured all those lovely concepts into the way you described them, through both words and photos. Lovely, lovely. Am currently enjoying the coastal/ocean version of bathing this week as we spend time at one of our favourite California coastlines. It's not all play, but the hour or so each day we spend fully embracing the waterline is so restorative. As is the balmy temperature! Can't wait to see which of your recommendations are available in the UK, once we return. For now, we are off all TV and streaming and it is a great break as well. Thank you for providing a well-written piece of joy and calm! Good luck with terrier rehabilitation!
The very idea of no TV and streaming is pretty good. There have been nights this summer, where we've switched off the TV and let Spotify mollycoddle us with Easy Jazz or Coastal Grandmother music.
I loved the word "ukiyo." It has a soft, gentle feeling - something like mindfulness, I guess.
I agree. It's all about mindfulness, without doubt.
Gentle. Thoughtful. Connected to something beyond ourselves. Thank you, friend, for the imagery and encouragement. I think you know I had my own shirin-yoku experience last fall, which was marvelous. (https://elizabethbeggins.substack.com/p/go-there)
Alas, it's winter here now, and my work schedule is all meetings and conferences, and I've fallen out of practice again. We are not so cold as to make being outdoors miserable. There are no excuses. I wish I did not let myself slip out of the habit so easily!
Last but far from least, my deep gratitude for the mention here, particularly among such masterful writers (you included). I'm honored, Prue.
Elizabeth, it is a pleasure.
There are others too - Rebecca Holden, Sabrina Simpson, Terry Friedman and more. People who give me views into lives other than our own isolated and narrow one.
When life intrudes, it's easy to slip into old patterns. I know when I'm in the city for any length of time, walking diminishes by half, simply because I hate tarmac, cement and crowds. There are bush walks close by though, and when the cooler months approach, if we are in the city, we hope to be more disciplined. But it has to be a conscious effort.
Essentially though, we really are country/coast mice.
I’m noticing the words isolated and narrow. In some ways, we all are subject to living little lives, by nature of being human. But I think you meant it in relation to where you live. Ironically, I don’t see that as isolated or narrow. It feels expansive and adventuresome to me! We are a quirky bunch, aren’t we? 😊
As always so much synchronicity to report yet again! This piece was so interesting and I absolutely marvel at your pics - it's a fauna like no other, isn't it? (Bit alarming about those snake fellows though ...) I love Jules as well and enjoyed his YouTube very much - and regarding the series you mention, I have not yet seen BUT I lived on the Isle of Man myself when my parents took an early retirement there! I look forward to reading your writing very much each week and yes! I am truly going to wade into the Substack pond as well very soon ... You inspire me - and those felt hearts are gorgeous as well. The most gentle of hugs to That Terrier as well.
It is odd fauna, for sure. Gondwana Land - shades of the far distant past and the era of dinosaurs, I suppose. Odd flora too.
You lucky thing living on the Isle of Man. I say that to Sabrina who lives on the Isle of Wight. In fact, I think anyone who lives on an island is incredibly lucky. There's something about islands...
Mike Sowden's Everything is Amazing (Substack) is looking at the many and varied aspects of islands this year and I look forward to it.
Thank you from the Terrier. He's getting better. He now lets me pull a sock over the sore foot (with muzzle on) with no snapping whereas before there were snapping teeth everywhere. He is allowed to swim in clean water in his little doggy pool and just got wet all over for the first time in a month. While he was in it, I worked the cold water into his coat and down to his skin and he loved it (its hot and windy today). He was so salty and sandy when all this kicked off and has been so uncomfortable, so this was very special. Another 3 weeks to go and I'll be down to that beach with him like a shot!
You know that when you come to Substack, I'll be recommending you to everyone!
Thank you dear Prue!
Lovely piece and pics. Nature as a meditation, a cure.. so true. It always helps.
Have you seen Live to 100; Secrets of the Blue Zones on Netflix? They visit cities around the world where people mysteriously live longer than average. One of the places is Okinawa. The Japanese are onto something. Great documentary.
Yes, CK. I mentioned it in this piece, see above. Blue Zone on Netflix about living longer with quality of life? I was struck by the quiet grace of the Okinawans. There is a lot to be said for a gentle, philosophical outlook on life and the Asian culture has much of that - more so, I think than the white Western world.
Oh. Haha. I missed it. I love your recommendations. The Asian culture is also extremely family oriented. They revere their elders. Unfortunately we do not see this is in the US.
Nor in Australia, unless they're from migrant families from Asia or eastern and southern Europe.
I share your ikigai. Learning about all sorts of things, which is why I had such a difficult time figuring out what to be when I grew up. My interests were so varied that I couldn't settle on one as a career path. It took many years but I eventually earned a degree at the age of 50! I thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of college courses I took, everything from Biology/Physiology to Women Writers to Sociology...a true Liberal Arts education!
And don't feel guilty about not reading/writing so much...you're busy doing other important work. I've reached the point of not pressuring myself about things I didn't get done. I do the most important chores for that day and then I take time for my personal projects (reading, writing, volunteering.) I do what compels me and today that was a new project for 2024: art journaling. I plan to include these wonderful Japanese terms in my notebook, so thank you for introducing them to us.
True - we need to ease up on the pressure, don't we?
and congrats on your mature age degree. Sometimes I wonder if we push youngsters to go to university too early - both my kids needed a gap year or two at the very least.
I had none. I went straight into a solid Arts degree but if I had my way, I might have combined the subjects from other faculties. As it was, I managed to sneak in a law subject and the boffins nearly had heart failure that anyone should do such a thing!
I'm journalling more these days too - thoughts, feelings. Wish I could draw, it'd be lovely to add into the mix.
Have a look at this week's art journal from Rebecca Holden on Substack - about marmalade. It's perfect!
Actually, it was Rebecca who mentioned Wanderlust, the online mixed media course I signed up for! She took it awhile back and has shared some lovely photos of her work. I'm a newbie at art, so whether I share anything remains to be seen (or not seen!) :)