A compilation treat from Dementia Diaries -the value of nature

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a beautiful feeling, everything’s going my way.

I went outside about 8 o’clock this morning to have naughty smoke and there was the most beautiful rainbow I’ve ever seen.

Gardening and growing your own food, there’s something where you connect to the soil, connect to plants. It just makes you feel something that is sort of away from the crap that’s going on around you or in your life.

Yeah, I’ve got a lovely tree, in front of me, near the school. Actually I’ve got two, absolutely fantastic, beautiful, red, it’s fantastic, the colour is, it’s starting to come out.

I’ve just returned from a week in North Devon, which made me realise quite a few things as I’m on this journey with dementia. We stayed in a lovely little lodge, overlooking a meadow. Beyond the meadow was fields and beyond that was Woolacombe village. There was nothing around other than birds singing, and occasional shots from the clay pigeon shoot which is obviously somewhere nearby.

I’ve seen a heron, a heron flying from garden to garden checking out ponds in their gardens. And I’ve just seen one, and he’s just landed and ah they’re so funny when they fly and their legs dangling. Hopefully the heron will get away and not be injured or anything like that, by cats. It was fabulous, nature throws us some fantastic things.

Three years ago I put a bird box up on my shed outside and this morning I went outside for a smoke and there was a blue tit coming in and out of it and I thought, wow, wonderful.