We are taking part in the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild again this year! Have a look back at what we’ve been up to so far and you can follow our daily Random Acts of Wildness on Instagram.

Here’s days 16-20 -rain and flowers!

On Day Sixteen we had a lovely walk down to the roundhouse in the community woodland we often visit and had a little rest and sat amongst the wildflowers. The photo just doesn’t do the speedwell justice, it was a beautiful carpet of blue!

Then came the rain…and with it, lots of fallen petals. What else to do but make some pretty nature art with them? So on Day Seventeen we made a petal butterfly. It was quite therapeutic just quietly gathering and creating. It was what we noticed and the things we discussed whilst doing so that stand out in my mind. My son wandered off to make a trail and investigate what floated and what sank in a pool the rain had left in his truck. Bringing a petal back to put in place, then becoming distracted by a passing beetle.

He found a dead bumble bee and we talked about the circle of life. And I was delighted to see a Jay, my favourite bird, swoop across the garden and land in a nearby tree.

Day Eighteen was a very exciting day and we were honoured to witness a little piece of history unfold. We watched the undocking of the Soyuz first thing in the morning and eagerly awaited Tim Peake’s arrival back on Earth. What an amazing perspective he has had. And what an inspiration he is. We looked at books and talked about the planets in our Solar System and how ours is the only one right for life as we know it.

It got us thinking again about just how amazing that is.

Our blue planet is so special so we made our own in celebration! We made a spherical frame from hazel (difficult to photograph!) and used sticky grass for the land and blue hydrangea for the sea.

My son holding it here reminds me that we have so much power in our hands. The power to make a positive or a negative impact on our natural world. This planet belongs to our beautiful children and in a world that can seem full of unkindess and carelessness, it is heart warming to see through this 30 Days Wild project that there are so many of us united in caring for our home in the universe.

Day Nineteen was a very wet one! The rain left its sparkly jewels in the grass and suspended on spider webs. We went for a rainy walk to see the horses and enjoyed jumping in a huge puddle (yes, of course Mummy joined in too!)

The longest day, the Summer Solstice was on Day Twenty. We welcomed in the coming Summer with a celebration in my Mum’s garden to the song of birds and the hum of bees. Giggles and bubbles and sunshine streamers. Flower garlands in our hair. A golden meal eaten outside. Petals everywhere.

And the mesmerising magic of the Solstice fire. We charged the flowers with our thoughts and wishes and intentions for the coming season and the flames took them skyward.

It was also the Solstice-Strawberry moon but unfortunately it was far too cloudy to see it. We did make our own moon to hang in my son’s bedroom though from hazel, tissue paper and a leaf constellation we made earlier. (I love that he calls it ‘Rion).

There is something very pleasing about playing and creating with natural treasures. I think maybe it connects us to ancient ways. To a time before we kept ourselves in concrete boxes. We have so much pretty ‘stuff’ to fill the boxes with too nowadays but is there anything more beautiful than a flower swaying in the breeze or a sunlit petal? Looking at flowers soothes my soul. I don’t often give myself time to create without purpose, just because I want to. There is always so much I should be doing! But our world is a wonderful one (if you look at it from the right angle) and life is short and so very precious. So I choose playing with flowers and jumping in puddles and noticing the beauty that surrounds me.