Nature's Hideaway

Gold cherry

By skinner_jennifer

Sat, 04 Dec 2021
  • 3533 reads
28 comments
 

The photo is my own, of a small wooded area we

created at the bottom of our garden, taken on

Saturday 4th December 2021 at 11.20 am.

 

It's one I'm proud of, being the first I've ever

taken on a mobile phone, with help from my son. smiley

 

 

 

There's no order captured here in garden spinney,

wild gatherings only, those hidden limbs intertwine;

weaving branches undefined.

 

Fluttering wings brush air, as twitching heads

of visiting blackbirds and robins under naked

Japanese Maple hop on leafy carpet, where

fragmented leaves caught by passing breeze

descend, serving to restore fair unrestrained

pulsing earth's wonder.

 

Branches bowed In welcome of creatures passing,

a natural structure attained; this preparation

of twisty seclusion a sleeping wisdom

of contentment in hollow shelter,

 

where avoiding mocking brisk North wind;

I pause...and reflect. Jack Frost's mischief

whistles through gaps, yet does not disturb

mother nature; for she slumbers quietly

waiting patiently for Winter's passing.

Certificate U
Poem
Poems
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Nature
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Comments

Submitted by celticman on

winter had just begun. Long wait. Hope to get to the end of it and not the end of things. 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

I was lucky enough to catch a beautiful sunny morning with this photo, with blue sky too. I do love this time of year, winter seems to suit me. I'm sure you'll get to the end of winter, and spring's just around the corner.

Thank you for reading and those cherries, whcih were lovely to see...very encouraging. smiley

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I really like how you describe your wild place, exuberant :0) I bet the birds are so happy! 

"no order captured"

" hidden limbs intertwine;

weaving branches undefined."

"twisty seclusion"

You have made a wonderful place, it sounds like the wood in Dartmoor you wrote of before :0) And well done with the photo!

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

we don't have flowers in the garden, just many shrubs, small trees and grass with just a hint of the odd bulbs that come up every year. I'm a bit of a wild spirit myself, so prefer to let the garden take on its own, and it also means as we get older there's not that much needs doing too.

Funnily enough the foxes I saw in the summer have found an old football in the garden, some days it's in a different spot, so I presume the foxes are playing with it. I keep hoping to see hedgehogs, especially as we have created little nooks and crannies, but they are night creatures, so I suppose even if they did appear I wouldn't notice them.

I certainly hope the birds are happy here. We have two crows that come each day for food, they start cawing as soon as I put the food out, along with magpies and pigeons, plus of course the tiny birds too. Then the squirrels join in the feast, it's all so great to watch.

Glad you enjoyed this poem which was a pleasure to write, and thank you for your thoughts.

Jenny. smiley

 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

It sounds fab :0) Maybe we have hedgehogs because it is very wet here? Do you have a pond or some water they could get to every night? That might also attract the sort of things they like to eat, which won't be a problem for you if you don't worry about flowers :0) Our hedgehogs sit in the middle of whatever they are drinking and often poo in it too, hopeless!!! so have to rinse out every day, but they are so funny. There were 4 the other night, but only one last night, I think it is getting too cold. It is wonderful you have created a wild space which in turn inspires your wild spirit, like a cycle of creative life mirroring natural world cycle? I remember the beautiful summer poem you wrote about the mother fox and her cubs playing, and the flower petals falling

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

what a wonderful reply to my comment. We don't have a pond so maybe that's why I haven't seen one yet.. It sounds like you've had many hedgehog visitors to your garden, which must be such a pleasure to see...apart from the poo of course. wink I've never thought of putting water out for them, just have a stone  bird bath. But we do have an old washing up bowl that collects rain water, though it's very dirty and I don't think the hedgehogs would be able to reach up. Will have to think of something I can use, that's not breakable.

The squirrels are always burying their food in pots, which we find upturned and we have to clean up the soil, but I don't mind. I find it such a shame that because of the grey squirrels we've lost the red squirrel, I've never seen a red squirrel in real life, apparently they're a lot smaller than the grey.

I think you're right about it getting too cold for the hedgehog, they're probably hibernating this time of the year. Will wait till spring and take your advice, see what happens.

Thank you for coming back with your thoughts, much appreciated.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

ours have one of those biggest white plastic milk cartons, cut in half from top to bottom? It is very shallow which is good as have heard hedgehogs can't swim so drown if ponds etc have steep sides? But it does look scruffy! One of those big plant tray/saucer things would be more respectable :0) Something it is easy for you to tip out and re fill! Or even better, two, so if one hedgehog trips over getting out (or poos) there will still be something to drink :0)

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Great advice Di. I shall definitely try out the shallow plant tray saucer, just fill two with a small amount of water. Thank you.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Like Di, I particularly liked that first descriptive stanza. Must be a lovely corner to follow through the seasons. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Glad you enjoyed that first stanza. It's a lovely shady spot to sit in during the hot summer, which is why I feel trees are so important, can't imagine a world without these important hidden worlds to escape to.

I really love your nature poems Rhiannon, please write some would love to read. 

Thank you for your input on this poem and glad you liked, will try to follow through with a poem in the spring and summer.

Many thanks again.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by Turlough on

This is a really nice poem Jennifer, describing exactly my feelings towards the secret corners of my own garden.

I like your words;

this preparationof twisty seclusion a sleeping wisdom of contentment in hollow shelter

which is just the sort of place we all need to get away from the cut and thrust of the 21st Century.

And well done with the photograph. I would love to see more. Photography being my greatest passion.

Turlough

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Isn't it lovely to have that little place you can go to get away from all the madness? Funnily enough when we bought the house back in 2004, it was the garden that attracted me more than the house itself. Back when I had more energy I planted two trees to commemorate us moving in and they're both doing well. I also used to grow a lot of veg, but find it too difficult bending and digging now, so tend to leave that side to my partner, but I have my many memories of working hard in the garden, which I'm sure you do too.

I'm glad you enjoyed reading my poem, and that you liked the photo. I think I was lucky with this one though, as I could hardly see what I was doing with the sun shining quite strongly behind me...and of course my very unsteady hands which were shaking like a leaf. smiley

I'm glad I could conjure your own feelings in this poem, and thank you very much for your great thoughts, which were a pleasure to read.

Jenny.

 

 

 

Submitted by Turlough on

You should persevere with the photography Jenny. Don't panic and don't compare your work to that of other people. The more you practice the better, and the more confident you will become. I'm sure you'll come to find it enjoyable and relaxing. It's a creative pastime that takes a while to get to grips with, just like writing. You've already seen how satisfying it is to be able to put a photograph of your own alongside a poem or story on ABCTales.

I started taking photographs about forty years ago, though I'm still only an enthusiastic amateur. What I love about it is the fact that I now look at everything in my world much more closely. Everything is a potential photographic subject.

I hope you enjoy experimenting with your new phone.

Turlough

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Ah! That's so kind of you to say. I'm still getting to know this phone buisness, I'm always afraid of doing the wrong thing, but when my son is around he shows me what to do. I had to take about seven photos to get this one right, still practice makes perfect as you so rightly said.

Yes you are right, it's very satisfying putting my own photo on with my poem. 

Many thanks for coming back and letting me know.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Beautiful, love the connection to season and life cycles. :)

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

yes you're so right about the connection between the seasons and life cycles, where would we be without them? I'm so glad you enjoyed and thank you for letting me know.

Jenny. 

 

Submitted by onemorething on

This gorgeous and rich poem is our Pick of the Day. Do share on Facebook and Twitter. 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

I'm totally over the moon with pick of the day. It's such a pleasure to recieve. 

Thank you! Thank you so much.

From Jenny and Mother Nature x xsmiley smiley

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

'Twisty seclusion' I really enjoyed your poem and the accompanying photograph. It looks like a lovely spot for tapping into 'unrestrained pulsing earth's wonder'. I wish I had a bit more space for rewilding, it makes such a difference and it looks wildly wonderful too.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

I'm glad you enjoyed reading my poem. It was such a pleasure to write and got me really excited when I saw the photo. It is a great place for tapping into the earth's wonder and thankfully doesn't need a lot of up keep.

I'm sure you too have a great garden, and I find trees are wonderful as long as they're not too close to buildings, I think it's all about careful planning and making sure the tree has enough room for the roots to spread.

I think it's great how the fallen leaves go back into the earth and replemish the trees, giving them the nutrients they need to survive...isn't nature caring and wonderful? heart

Thank you for reading and your kind words.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

Well done on taking the photograph! It's lovely. 

This reminded me of my own garden in my old house. We had a bit behind some fruit trees that we left pretty much to itself, and the kids used to love going there - the trees screened them from the house and they felt as though they were on their adventures. We had hedgehogs and all sorts down there. It was also a good place for them to go and sulk when they felt like it!  It was actually quite a small space, but it was a little world for them.

Thank you for posting this, Jenny, and a very well deserved Pick of the Day.

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

I was so interested in your comment. I wish all children had the pleasure of playing in a slice of wild garden, there's always so much for children to learn from nature that can only happen if they get to experience the wildness. I think your children were very lucky like I was as a child growing up. I've always known woods from about the age of eight when we moved to a house with woods at the bottom of the garden, which I've written about many times. I've never had fruit trees though, they're so magical and always remind me of fairies, because there's food readily available.

Thank you for sharing your story, you should write about the wildness behind the fruit trees, I'm sure it would make a great story.

Appreciate the read too and glad you enjoyed.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by marandina on

Beautiful poem, beautiful photo, Jack Frost still trying and failing to unsettle Mother Nature - it's an uneven contest really :)

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Thank you so much Paul. That Jack Frost will never dampen, or freeze Mother Nature's spirit. Though I have to say the rain and wind certainly dampened mine to day, I got absolutely drenched walking back from town in an unexpected down pour. surprise I've even got webbed feet as the rain soaked my shoes right through. 

So it was nice to read your kind words of encouragement on my poem and photo.

Thank you so much.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by jeand on

HI Jenny

What a lovely poem about your garden, and a nice photo too. Well done. 

Jean Day

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

It's so uplifting to recieve so many kind words of encouragement. Your words mean a lot. Thank you so much.. 

Jenny. smiley

 

 

Submitted by Hades502 on

I had to go back and read an older one that I hadn't gotten around to when it came out. This is great, of course. Congrats on the cherries. Nice pic too.

GGHades502

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

very much appreciate you reading this poem and glad you liked. Sorry I've not been around, had a lot on my plate lately. Will get around to reading some more of your story when I've time.

Thank you for letting me know.

Jenny. smiley