Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
16th March 2019
Walk and Talk
I had a lovely evening last Saturday, in conversation with Kate Humble as part Crickhowell’s Walking Festival. Friedrich Nietzsche said, “All great thoughts are conceived whilst walking.” And avid walkers will know that to be true. It is also a quote that Kate refers to in her latest book, ‘Thinking on My Feet – The small joy of putting one foot in front of the other.’
Thinking on My Feet, is a year-long journal of Kate’s walks and musings, and as a passionate walker myself, I was a little reluctant to read about walking, preferring to actually get out in the fresh air and experience it all first hand. However, Kate’s relaxed and easy-going narrative actually makes you feel as though you are walking with her. Her writing style is informal and chatty, and if a keen walker yourself, you will recognise and smile at some of her observations like, “that smug feeling of having got a walk under your belt in foul weather.”
And if you are not a keen walker already, I am pretty confident that Kate’s book will inspire you to invest in a pair of walking boots. As she observes, as well as the fitness benefits, walking is so useful for organically working out issues and finding solutions for problems, as well as for receiving inspiration for new projects and ideas.
I often think about content for my columns whilst I’m walking Yogi – I’ll usually see something relevant in nature, or remember something topical – the trick these days is managing to remember it until I get home!
Kate is as busy as always, filming a new series of Off the Beaten Track in West Wales with her trusty four-legged companion, Welsh sheep dog Teg. She is also writing a new book (too early to share the details of that yet) and of course, lambing at her own farm. You can experience 24 hours in the lambing shed yourself as one of the many courses they run at Humble by Nature.
Find out more about the book at and Kate’s courses at www.humblebynature.com
The Labyrinth Less Travelled
Something that I always take into consideration with regard to garden design is creating a ‘walk’ around the garden. There are clever ways of enticing you through a garden and creating a natural informal walking circuit, no matter how small the garden may be.
It is also one of the delights of creating a labyrinth – a continuous walk can be cleverly enabled in the smallest of spaces. Of course that was the point of a labyrinth too – to provide a meditative pilgrimage for those who couldn’t travel long distances. It is also thought that you can ask a question as you walk toward the centre of the labyrinth and the answer will be given as you walk out.
You can mow a simple labyrinth into your lawn (and let it grow out when you want), or use landscape marking paint, which will wash or mow out too. It can be as permanent or temporary as you like, as large or small as you like and pretty much made of any material. I have created a lavender labyrinth, (which is my favourite), labyrinths created from stones, numerous mown and painted ones and even one in the snow this time last year.
Wet Weather Work
“Windy, isn’t it?” Remarked my brother.
“No. I think it’s Thursday,” I replied.
“So am I,” he said, “Let’s go and have a cup of tea!”
And that dialogue pretty much sums up a windy week in work with Storm Gareth being hot on the heels of Storm Freya. Lots of people ask if we still work in bad weather and to be honest, I don’t think my bank manager would be that thrilled if I only worked in good weather!
One of the jobs which we could do this week was to clean the block paved patio for a client. (see pic). It is the first time that I have tried a wire brush attachment on a strimmer, and although a slow old job, it was very effective. I got mine from ebay www.ebay.co.uk/p/OZAKI-Wire-Brush-Strimmer-Head-Attachment-for-Cleaning-Block-Paving-Weeds/652371840 and used two to do a large patio area.
Leave a Reply