One Year On

 

This is a personal one! Last year on the 5th of March I decided to quit coffee. I did it cold turkey as well, cutting it out completely. It was hard, really hard. I think it had "coffee flu" the first few weeks. I had also cut out caffeine completely as I stopped drinking black and green teas, I was just drinking herbal teas and Chicory (which is a coffee substitute). After 2 weeks I started to feel better and my stomach was a lot better too. The acidity of the coffee had been killing my stomach. I reintroduced black and green teas about a month or so later and did enjoy them and had no issues with the caffeine. BUT over the Festive Period I noticed that black tea was causing me similar issues with my stomach that the coffee had been. So in early January I quit black teas too. I now only drink green teas and herbal teas. There are so many tasty green teas that I have: Gunpowder, Jasmine, Sencha, White Tea and various others. Since quitting the black teas I haven't had any issues whatsoever with my stomach. Black tea is acidic too so my body was telling me to stop it! Greens teas are alkaline and better for the tummy and down right tasty! I have also been trying to eat more alkaline foods and avoiding acidic ones too. I really cannot believe I had my last coffee on the 4th of March 2024! I really thought coffee defined me! I used to drink 4-6 a day and it was the real stuff, none of this instant rubbish haha! I had a fancy bean to cup coffee machine, various fancy coffee cups and lots of beans and ground coffee. After giving up I gave it all to one of my friends who is a huge coffee fan and he loves the machine. The cup above is an Espresso Cup from Ikea and I found the beans at the back of the cupboard, so thought I'd get a photo of them before I binned them. 

I feel that quitting coffee was the best and worst decision of my life!!

Littering

 

I have made a few comments on other blogs about littering and it got me thinking. Littering is such a HUGE problem here in Scotland. Everywhere is plagued by it. I often collect the rubbish when I am out on my nature walks and this is one example. I find it heartbreaking that such lovely forests and green areas are like this. There is also something called "fly tipping" which is illegal over here yet it still happens. People dumping rubbish in places they shouldn't for instance: the forest, housing estates and on the streets. You see all sorts, furniture, beds and lots of other junk. There are signs all over the streets warning people of dumping rubbish and they will be fined, yet I see it all the time and nothing is done. The local authority are slow to remove it and their approach to waste management is shocking. They don't care!!! They would rather the area looking like sh*t than spend a budget on tidying it up. The rest of Scotland is just as bad. I feel ashamed that the people of this country do not respect it! Is littering a problem in your country too?

Starfish

 

This is a Starfish. We saw it at Sealife in Blackpool when we were there a few weeks ago. Most creatures on this planet amaze me, but underwater creatures are particularly interesting and fascinating.

At Night

 

This snail was on my bin one night so decided to take a photo of it and I let it be! Peace at night!

First Day Of March

Happy March. Can you believe it is March already! Time sure flies when you get older.

These are Snowdrops, quite common here from January to March. Spring is in the air and it has been fairly mild here too!

Latticed Heath Butterfly

 

This is a Latticed Heath Butterfly (Chiasmia clathrata). I have only ever seen it this one time so took advantage of getting a photo!

Essential

 

Bees are so important in our world. We must protect them at all costs. Sadly like all creatures, apart from humans, they are in decline.

Red Damselfly

 

This is a few years old. It is a Red Damselfly. I am hoping to see plenty this year.

Odd One Out

 

This Coot was trying to gatecrash the Mallard Party!

Another Tree Down

 

Not quite down but a good bit blown off from the storm we had last month called Storm Eowyn. I think this one will survive or hope it will.

Plant Hopper

 

This little fellow is a Plant Hopper (Cixiidae). They are fairly common over here.

The Heron Is Fishing

 

This is the resident Heron at the pond. This photo is a few years old. He still visits the pond on a regular basis.

How Many Seagulls?

 

How many seagulls can you spot? They were sitting in the pond and they all took off! I thought this would a great photo opportunity.

Relaxing

 

This is a Texel Sheep. It was relaxing when I took this photo. It wasn't too bothered that I was nearby taking photos!

Spider On My Arm

 

This spider was crawling on my chair, I decided to pick it up and it ran up my arm! It is sitting at the inside of my elbow. Not really sure if you can see how big it is, but it was massive! I really like spiders, I know a lot of people don't! Over here in Scotland we don't have any dangerous or deadly native spiders.

Blackbird

 

This is a Blackbird. They are really common in Scotland. This is the stump where I feed the birds and it is great to get photos of them.

Water Droplets

My friend Fernando over at: https://feraldi91.blogspot.com/ posts a lot of photos of water droplets. So I thought I would try it out after seeing his great photos. 

I like the reflections on these.

Tetraodontidae

 

I saw this little cutie at Sea Life in Loch Lomond. It is a Tetraodontidae. He always looks happy when we visit Sea Life.

Unsure Gull

 

This Gull looked a but unsure of me taking his photo! He did pose well for me though.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. These are Grandaisy Pink Halo (Argyranthemum frutescens), I thought they would be the ideal flowers for today! Have a great day everyone :-D

Crow And Pellets

 

I put floating pellets in the pond for the ducks and coots. I also put some at the edge of the water for the crows. This crow was happy to get a collection of them!

Drone Fly On A Leaf

 

This is a Drone Fly (Eristalis arbustorum) on a leaf. You can see the sun shining on his back.

Bee On A Flower

 

This is a bee on Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis). This purple flower is fairly common in Scotland during summer months and attracts a lot of insects.

A Little Snow On The Leaves

 

Took this a few weeks ago. We had a little snow and I like how it was frozen on the leaves.

A Hungry Racoon

 

We saw this Racoon at Chessington Zoo last year. Lovely little creature and looked happy.

I Want Cuddles

 

This penguin looks like it wants cuddles! So cute.

Shelter for Fairies

 

Not quite sure what these mushrooms are but they sure do offer shelter to the fairies in the forest.

Fly On Meadowsweet

 

This is a fly a plant called Meadowsweet. Both are fairly common in Scotland.

Blue Tit Feeding

 

This a lovely little Blue Tit getting the seeds I put down for it. This tree stump is a common place for people to put seeds down on and great for photos too. It attracts Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Nuthatches, Robins, Crows, Pigeons, Squirrels, Blackbirds and a few other birds from time to time. The ones I have listed are very common and plentiful in that part of the forest.

Winter Sun

 

Another recent photo from last week. A beautiful winter sun scene.

A Crow And A Moorhen Went Ice Skating

 

Took these the other day when it was really frosty. The pond was mostly frozen and I put seeds down and a crow appeared then the resident moorhen couldn't resist the allure of the seeds! Was fun to watch them. 

Stitch Is Hanging!

 

This is Stitch hanging out on the cat tree! He is chilling and often lies like this! He is a lovely cat.

Pacman Mushroom

 

This is a Scarlet Elf Cup mushroom. I think it looks like Pacman! I took this a few days ago. This week I have been getting out my walks. Just short walks but will build it up again.

Frozen Apple

 

This is an apple from our garden tree. It was frosty and frozen and I think it looks really cool!

Hawthorn Shield Bug

 

This is a Hawthorn Shield Bug. I've posted one of these little guys before along with other Shield Bugs. They are nice little things. He was happy to walk on my hand for a short while.

Common Bonnet

 

I think this is a Common Bonnet Mushroom. I struggle to identify them and spend ages online trying! Anyway I thought this looked magical.

Wood Pigeon

 

This is a Wood Pigeon chilling in the grass. I don't really give pigeons the attention I should. Maybe I should start paying more attention to them! 

Storm Eowyn

On Friday 24th January Scotland was hit with a bad storm called Eowyn. It was one of the worst we have ever seen. Giorgio over at Change easily (https://giorgiorusso2.blogspot.com/) was asking me for information on it. So it lasted most of the day and died down about 8pm. Sadly, so far 2 people have lost their lives. But the damage to houses and buildings has been really bad. There are trees down all over and fences and debris. I have been out a few times and here are some of the photos of the trees.