SILLY SATURDAY

At long last we decided that we needed to get out for a Saturday morning walk, so off we went in the sunshine - although it had got down to about -2 overnight, and was still frosty in places where the sun hadn’t reached.  We had to be careful on the pavements and roads too, because in places it was still quite icy.  We called into our local garage where there is an M & S to buy milk and a daily paper, where I gave out a couple of hearts and then continued on our way.

After a good walk, which we both enjoyed, we found ourselves quite near to our local hospital, so decided that as there is a Costa there, a cup of coffee would go down very well.  All I had put into my pocket was my iPhone and some little hearts, so Mr. HCB very kindly offered to pay and we sat and chatted and enjoyed our coffee - but there was no cake!

What did surprise us both was that there was a young, pregnant lady standing under a sign which said in BIG letters “This Hospital is a Smoke Free Zone” and perhaps you can guess what she was doing!  

Walking home we had a message from our son in Vietnam, who said he was “I’m wrapping up because it’s a cold few days here, Brrrrrr”!  I told him it probably wasn’t as cold as here and sent him a shot of us having a bowl of home-made soup after our walk.

A bit later, I thought I should do my Blip, and I had already decided to use this lovely, fluffy little red hedgehog, given to me by a Mindful_life's son just before Christmas.  I knew they had been sold at the Christmas Fayre we went to, but didn’t realise he had bought me one - when I told him how pleased I was, he said that he had heard me say I liked them, so decided to buy me one - so sweet of him and I did tell him I would Blip it one day, so must ask his Mum to show him.

So here is R’s hedgehog, together with a little one that came from Mum’s garden at the front of her flat - she loved her tiny strip of garden and her pots and ornaments, so this is something to remember her by too.  I was going to make it an indoor shot, but as the sun was still shining, thought they would look better in one of Mr. HCB’s pots with some primroses.  I found a card in a charity shop yesterday, which was a little hedgehog asking where all the balloons had gone and then in another charity shop, picked up a brochure for Oak & Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre which is only about twenty minutes from where we live.  I know that GodsCreation, another of my Blip friends looks after hedgehogs, so think she might appreciate seeing this.  

I found this quote and the first sentence certainly describes my friend’s son who loves anything to do with nature and animals and he is a “champion” for nature now, even though he is only 10 years old. 

“Children who spent time in green spaces 
     between the ages of seven and twelve 
          tend to think of nature as magical. 
As adults they are the people most likely 
     to be indignant about 
          lack of nature protection, 
while those who have had no such experience 
     tend to regard nature as hostile or irrelevant 
          and are indifferent to its loss. 
By expurgating nature from children's lives 
     we are depriving the environment 
          of its champions for the future.” 
Isabella Tree, Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm

P.S.  By the way, the hedgehogs aren't silly, but the lady smoking underneath that sign is!