The nature cure and volunteering

Since early 2018, when I started to recover from the brain hemorrhage, Mr Norfolkbookworm and I have spent a lot of time outdoors whenever the weather has been half way decent. We generally go out and about in Norfolk or Suffolk, usually taking the camera and binoculars, and just spend time in the fresh air walking, taking pictures and generally just looking around.

I am sure that this has helped my recovery to some extent, for us being out in the natural world has meant we are becoming far more observant and we are definitely far more connected with the seasons and the wildlife around the county. The rare weekends that haven't been nice enough to get out really do have an impact on my mood for the following week so there is surely something in the idea of a nature cure.

June is the Wildlife Trusts #30DaysWild, where people are encouraged to sign up and connect in someway to the natural world. We had a busy weekend - we walked at Ranworth Broad, Strumpshaw Fen and Cley Marshes, and we were lucky enough to see one of Norfolk's rarities - the swallowtail butterfly.

While seeing a special breed is nice we had just as much fun watching the domestic dramas of the avocets and wagtails from the inside of a hide and sharing these things with other people.

However we can't get out and about like this every day (work gets in the way!) but connecting with nature is still possible even in our city house. This morning while hanging out the laundry I was watching the swifts wheel about over the house, dozens of bees feeding on the privet hedge and a ladybird exploring the cornflowers - nature really is everywhere and taking just a moment to look at every day is so easy and something I intend to carry on doing after June is over.

Another activity that has kept me as sane as I can be is volunteering. Before I fell ill I had just started volunteering at the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum, and once I was well enough going back to this was a real boost. The museum was responsible for curating the main Armistice exhibition in the main city museum and the wonderful curator, Kate, was brave enough to allow a lot of this to be written and illustrated by volunteers. My areas included agriculture, POWs and conscientious objectors and to be trusted with the research and writing for the exhibition despite a broken brain was a real boost.

There have been many upheavals with my paid employment in the past 6 months but the one good thing with a different job and fewer hours is that I have some more time to myself. I have recently started a new volunteer role within the Norfolk Wildlife Trust - which links back in nicely to #30DaysWild and our passion for the outdoors!

I mention this now because the first week of June is also #VolunteersWeek and I wanted to share just how much being a volunteer has given me. We often hear a lot about what volunteers offer to organisations but I'd just like to say thank you to those who have given me so much by letting me volunteer with them.

To bring this back to books just for a moment - if you are looking for some simple ways to get back in touch with the natural world then can I suggest Rewild Yourself: 23 spellbinding ways to make nature more visible by Simon Barnes. A friends recommended it to me and so I'd like to pass this on. It is full of simple ways to take more notice of the world around you, and each chapter starts with a quote from some wonderful children's books!

Still here

I am still here but it has been a month of a lot of ups and downs, and as seems to be the case post brain hemorrhage the thing that now seems to vanish at these times is my ability to lose myself in a book.

I've been thinking a lot about Remembrance and WW1 over the past few weeks and I did originally intend to post about those today but then the Costa Book Prize shortlists were announced last night...

As is clear to people who read this blog I have really struggled with reading this year and I've read an awful lot less than ever before. I do wonder if this is making me more discerning, and that the list is far more quality rather than quantity.

I say this because two of the books that have been vitally important to me this year have made the Costa shortlists.

The first book that I managed to read all the way through after I fell ill was the wonderful Meet Me at the Museum by debut novelist Anne Youngson. I read it back early in the year, but this was in proof form and so my review didn't appear until late spring. Discovering that I could still read was a really important milestone and I knew that this book was incredibly special to me but to know that others also see this is wonderful, and on a personal level it reinforces that I can still spot a good book!

The Skylarks' War by Hilary McKay marked another landmark in my recovery - it was the first book that I read through in just one day, something I took for granted until December 2017.  There had been other books that I'd read reasonably quickly for the 'new' me but this was the one that I just had to keep reading, that kept my concentration throughout and made a very wet Sunday pass in a flash. (I reviewed this book for the NorfolkinWW1 website where I was much more about the book than the importance it had to me personally).

I'd love for both of these books to go on to triumph in the award ceremonies early in 2019, In the meantime I really do recommend reading both of these books as soon as you can!

What I've been doing this summer instead of reading...

What I did in the summer of 2018

Inspired by my nephew writing all about his summer holiday at school I thought it would be interesting to keep a note of all the things I've been doing this summer instead of crazy theatre going and binge reading.

To be truthful there has been some theatre going, since May I've seen:

• Two Noble Kinsmen (the Globe)
• The Chalk Garden (Chichester Festival Theatre)
• Othello (the Globe)
• Me and My Girl (Chichester Festival Theatre)
• Pressure (the Ambassadors Theatre)
• Emilia (the Globe)
• Love's Labour's Lost (the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse)

When listed like this it seems a lot but in the same time frame last year I saw 13 plays (often in double bill days) so this is a reduction.

So apart from a lot of resting, and poppy sorting (more on this soon), what have I been up to?

Spending time with family has featured highly this summer and thanks to the lovely weather we've been able to get out and about a lot too. We've been to cricket matches, family meals and also Legoland but there are two huge highlights.

The GoGoHares trail here in Norfolk - family came to stay with us for this and we spent several days out and about in the city and county looking for the beautiful sculptures.

Then while the good weather lasted we returned the visit to family and spent a glorious Saturday in Ashford following the Snowdog trail.

These trails are wonderful, we spent hours out in the fresh air, walking miles and at the same time soaking up the happy feeling of both locations. In addition to this we were supporting two wonderful charities - Break and the Pilgrim's Hospice.

We've done lots of other things too but the joy we had discovering beautiful sculptures and new areas of both locations will be hard to beat - and the fun and laughter we shared was brilliant. Here's hoping that the auctioning of the sculptures later in the year raises loads of money for each charity. Huge thanks to everyone who has made these two events so great.