Spending quiet time away from the crowds

Hi everyone, and here we are in the fourth week of March and it is a very different world to what we had at the beginning of the year when many of us had plans for the year ahead. Every day the situation changes and it is affecting us all. How are you all fairing in the face of the Corona Virus? I hope you and your families are staying well and finding ways of getting through the months ahead. This thing is not going to go away quickly. And the world needs to pull together to get through this.

Australia has been slow to start, but numbers of infections are increasing daily. Australia has shut all it's external borders and it's internal borders - ie between states - for instance Western Australia where I live has closed borders with South Australia and Northern Territory, other than essential services and trucking supplies - Western Australia is a very isolated state - with only three road accesses. These are now closed.    

 But this post is not about the Corona Virus, we have enough of that on the news every day, every hour, every half hour. I know we have to keep up with what is happening but it causes stress and anxiety too.  Mental health in the face of social distancing is so important right now for ourselves and our families.  Especially when our social activities are being cancelled - sporting events, gatherings, entertainment, cafes, club meetings etc etc - the list goes on.

So what can we do? Here are a few ideas - I am sure you will have many others if you would like to add to my list.

draw a picture... dig in the garden... put all your photos in a photo album... knit something... hand make a pile of Christmas cards... press flowers... ring up all your long lost friends and family.... finish those projects you never finished...sort out the photos from your last trip...print them in a book....learn how to play an instrument or practise if you already play.....go bush walking or walk along the beach... sit in the garden or under a tree....escape in a book....turn the music up loud and dance....or sing.....play with fun new projects... finish that on-line course you never finished.... take it as a good opportunity to stop and take a breather....stay connected with the phone or social media groups....write letters.....write your memoirs....

As my son said to his boys.... it makes us stop and think about how lucky we are to have all the things we have and perhaps be more grateful for the small things. Even more so when we come out the other side of all of this.

I know the negativity and bad news is affecting me and my level of anxiety, so over the weekend I decided to start a photography project - one photo a day, for the duration of the Corona Virus. I went back through my photos and started last Monday 16 March, and here they are so far....

Monday - 16 March 2020 - Roses

Tuesday - 17 March 2020 - empty supermarket shelves

Wednesday - 18 March 2020 - laying out the leaves for eco-printing

Thursday - 19 March 2020 - a sunset with roof tops and power lines is still a beautiful sunset

Friday - 20 March 2020 - The Green Depot - supporting small local businesses whiles we still can

Saturday - 21 March 2020 - my patio sanctuary garden

Sunday - 22 March 2020 - quinces growing in my garden - the netting is to keep the parrots off!

 
Thank you so much for stopping by. How are you fairing in these troubled uncertain times? What have you been doing to stay connected and active? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments.  Take care everyone.

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Nature walks

I am slow in writing my blog this week. The days are a little cooler, and I am starting to feel a little better after coming down with a summer flue a few weeks ago, so I have ventured out for a walk a few times in the last week. There is something rejuvenating don't you think about getting out in nature, whether it is in a park, along a river or the beach, or in bushland or forest.

I am lucky that I have four places close to home where I can walk along a bush path or by the water. Walking along suburban streets is too boring for me and I like to walk where there is shade.

The first is very close to home, only a couple of hundred metres away, a bush block tucked between suburbia and the main road into the city.  Here you will find a mixture of peppermint trees, jarrah and marri eucalypts, a couple of varieties of banksia, creeping hovea and wild wisteria, and a host of wildflowers, including orchids pushing up through the imported weeds during spring.

Peppermint trees

 The second is a favourite walk along the Leschenault Estuary first thing in the morning or late afternoon or at sunset when it is cooler after a hot summer's day.  In the sunset pic you can see our port facilities on the horizon, beyond that is the Indian Ocean.

The third is along the Collie River which flows into the estuary. It follows along the river. If you cross the bridge you can walk along the other side. Sorry about this rather dodgy phone photo from a lookout point. Silly me decided not to take my camera! It was a cloudy morning though.  I am sure I have better photos....somewhere on my hard drive....

 The fourth is behind the houses along Miller's Creek, a shady artery which runs through the middle of a housing development. This shady walk is particularly lovely on a hot morning. 

Do you have a favourite nature walk? What does it look like? Perhaps you would like to share in your comments. 

You might also like - 
Down in the woods today
Where wild orchids grow
The wildflowers are starting to pop at Crooked Brook
  
A circle - a moment in time - on the forest floor 

A circle on the forest floor

 Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 


I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday
Friday Bliss at Floral Passions

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Walking in the Shannon, Western Australia

There was a rustle in the swampy undergrowth as we approached the wooden hut along the walk trail. Was it a lizard or a quokka disappearing along its runnell? Around the observation shelter there was evidence of the quokka colony – pad runnels and flattened places through the swampy undergrowth, although the interpretive panel informed us that being a night forager, we were unlikely to see the squat marsupial quokka during the day.

We recently visited Shannon National Park, 53 kilometres south of Manjimup, and one of seven National Parks within the Walpole Wilderness area of Western Australia’s beautiful south west corner.

There was once a timber mill here, but after timber cutting ceased here in 1983, the forest regenerated and Shannon became a National Park in 1988 covering 53,500 hectares of the Shannon River catchment, and includes a mixture of karri, jarrah, marri, blackbutt and karri-oak forests, wildflowers, sedges, heaths, wetlands and granite outcrops. 

There is a day use area, campground and four bush walks which enable you to enjoy learn about and enjoy the natural history and history.  The Shannon campground is a peaceful place to camp any time of year, and the forest comes alive with wildflowers during spring.  It really is a beautiful area, and I know I will return again one day. 

There is something really special about being able to walk in quietness in the bush, absorbing the sights and sounds and smells, being within your own self, observing, being at peace, and being thankful for the beautiful world in which we live.

In the words Vincent Serventy, noted Australian naturalist “Surely there can be no greater cathedral than forests such as those of the karri”.

My Campsite Report -  Forest and Flowers about camping in the Shannon National Park, was published in July 2011 edition of On The Road Magazine, Australia.   -    On The Road Magazine

And also walking, touring and camping in the Shannon in Go Camping Magazine - October-November 2011 - Quokka Hunting in Karri Country