Lisa Sharples 🌳

Christmas Day walk

Happy autumn 🍂🍁

@weirb4 If you love an osprey, WT has a camera at our site in loch arkaig. They’ve gone for this year but will be back in the spring woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-an…

When I was 10 or 11 we went to see the ospreys at Loch Garten and I joined the #youngornithologistsclub and yes, I was a bit nerdy, still am, still love listening to birds.

@weirb4 I LOVE it!!! 🥰🌈

I thought this was a good day for my ‘new’ jumper. £5 from Barnardo’s. Billy said “it’s not your usual style”. Not quite the thumbs up I’d hoped for.

Lovely to hear the Woodland Trust talking about a ‘mast year’ on @BBCr4today - one in which our woods abound in nuts and acorns. ‘Mast’ in this sense meant a ‘feeding’ or ‘fattening’, because the fallen fruit of our beeches, oaks, and chestnuts was used as fodder for pigs.

@jollytoadstool Green 💚

🌻 Button choosing dilemma! Have been lucky enough to find shiny boiled sugar sweet like late 1950's vintage cat eye buttons that nicely match the clove spice dyed wool colours of this sunflower knit cardigan, but struggling to choose between green or yellow - thoughts please?

We are human. I’m hugely grateful that I could cry in my workplace today having received some heart wrenching news. I could take some time in my garden and reflect on the fragility of life and the mental health challenges that so many carry. Solidarity with criers everywhere!

@weirb4 I just started it, thanks for sharing

Interesting paper for any younger women considering HRT. I was on oestrogen +progesterone from age 53 & developed bc 5 years later. nih.gov/news-events/ne…

@weirb4 I’m seeing pic 4 with a large ice cream sundae 🍧

@RebeccaCNReid Pumpkin? We grew them when my son was small then carved them for Halloween. Needs a bit of space.

If I want to do some basic gardening with my toddler is there anything I can plant around now and leave to grow outside? Like basically what’s the lowest grade seed growing we can do with no green house?

Quite a few folk have said that they missed my photos. This has given me a small boost that counters the dark relentless depression whose controlling voice is my brain's inner git-when I'm not well she tells me that my posts, work (& me) are utter worthless sh*te. Here are some of my photos to make up a little for my absence due to brain illness. I design them using recent research on how looking at plants, flowers & plant-based patterns improve human mental health. If you zoom in & they make your brain feel better, even slightly, for a few seconds, maybe...RT this? ty:

One of the first woodland blooms, primroses are a joyful sign of spring 🌼 Found across the UK, they thrive in sheltered spots like woodland clearings 🌳 Early wildflowers like these provide an important nectar source for pollinators 🦋 ✨ Did you know? Primroses are an indicator of ancient woodland!

@HWarlow skipton.woodlandtrust.org.uk

Good Afternoon Anna and the Willow Graceful and beautifully crafted She is in Skipton Woods North Yorks. Well worth a visit. The area is alive with secrets you can find for yourself.

@brigidrussell51 I find myself wondering how many are presuming and missing the point, and how many are simply re enforcing existing privileges 🤷🏻‍♀️

People who condemn well-intentioned approaches to diversity, equity, & inclusion out of hand are presuming their so-called "meritocracy" operates on a level playing-field. Such an argument entirely misses the point that prevailing sources of money, power, and privilege dominate.

I’ve known this tree for 20 years. I’ve seen it in all seasons; we’ve played hide-and-seek round it, avoided cows sheltering in the summer heat, picked up acorns for the nature table. It endures and so do I.

@weirb4 Is it worth asking your original question to the school? I wonder if theyve noticed the pattern and considered the impact? I went to primary school with a different set of twins and the school was determined to split them into different classes to avoid comparison.

@lisasharples48 Oh absolutely. But the conventional definition favours one child who has come home from school with awards given by dinner ladies & teachers several times this term. Which is lovely for her though as she acknowledges she hasn’t put more effort in than her sister.

Some advice from those who know about twins. Please! One twin is regularly getting rewards, praise, prizes. The other twin isn’t. They both put in much the same effort. The favoured one shares with her sister. But the ignored one is getting angry at the unfairness. What to do?

@weirb4 Maybe the definition of win is different for each?

@lisasharples48 It’s a good point & they are different. And they’re best friends. I suppose it’s about rewarding effort, or at least noticing when they’re trying even if they don’t always ‘win’.

Mini forest on a pine cone.

We may not be able to change the whole world, but our small acts of kindness still make a big difference 💕 You can help spread some joy by using and sharing the December Kindness calendar actionforhappiness.org/calendar #DoGoodDecember