30 Days Wild: Day 16 – Go Wild After Dark

On day 16, I was hoping to get outside during daylight hours. However, work and pain conspired to mean the night was drawing in by the time I was ready to move outside. I decided this would give me a chance to try some night time #randomactsofwildness on my doorstep.

I did find time to put together a mini-night-garden in my front room in the meantime, for reasons that I’ll go into in a future post…

I read up on hedgehog food. I had a promotional sachet of cat food that a friend gave me because she knows that Charlie cat often visits, even though I don’t technically own a cat (to be fair, Charlie owns everyone who lives in our block.)

Annoyingly, it was fish flavoured, which is apparently no good for hedgehogs. However, I had some chicken left over from a roast – and so it was that I found myself using my knife skills to chop it as finely as possible (apparently, hedgehogs have tiny teeth).

I put it in the lid from a tin of ‘car sweets’, as it had a low rim, which I figured would make it easier for the hedgehog to eat from.

I went to find my torch, with plans of a mini-beast hunt. However, the batteries had died so I improvised with a candle in a lantern and a string of solar powered fairy lights (I use them indoors to save electricity – they charge well enough through a window to last for a few hours – and hadn’t had them on so they were fully charged. I liked the idea of using the sun to provide light at night).

The fairy lights  weren’t bright enough to give me a clear view, but they did help me spot a snail, which kindly sat there while I tried to photograph it.

They also looked pretty draped around my plants.

If you have small children and flashing fairy lights, draping them round the wildest bit of your garden then bringing the kids out to ‘see the fairies’ can be magical. My mum used to wake me to show me the fairies at the bottom of the garden when I was a child and it’s still one of my happiest memories – and she didn’t have fairy lights to work with: just a great knack for storytelling and a child with an easily inspired imagination…

I poured myself a small glass of elderberry port, intended to keep me warm in the chill – though it was actually pleasantly mild.

I drank it anyway, to be on the safe side, pouring a small libation onto the ground (there were still a few seeds in the drink, so who knows, maybe they’ll grow…)

I also lit a stick of Fairyland incense made from natural ingredients (described by the person I buy it from as, ‘Wild Heather, Elderflower and Lilac. A combination reputed to attract fairies.’) which could be asking for trouble but smelled lovely.

I admired the shadows that the lantern cast over my plant pots.

I noticed the bottle garden looked particularly beautiful by candle light, and couldn’t resist taking some photos, though they don’t do its beauty justice.

I definitely want to do more night time adventuring, once I have batteries for my torch. I suspect there are whole new worlds to be discovered… But after my night time adventures, it was time to rest.

Random Acts of Wildness So Far…

1. Spread the word.
2. Start a weather/pain diary.
3. Look at the clouds.
4. Photograph wildflowers.
5. Look for urban nature.
6. ID a butterfly.
7. Find a fledgling.
8. Feed a swan.
9. Collect feathers.
10. Stake out a foraging site.
11. ID birdsong.
12. Tweet using the #30DaysWild hashtag.
13. Plant a virtual seed.
14. See new life growing.
15. Feed the ducks.
16. Protect an animal from a predator.
17. Reflect on nature.
18. Look closely at your lawn.
19. Make someone a nature hamper from recycled materials.
20. Share nature photos using #30DaysWild on Instagram (and help the hashtag trend).
21. Show your houseplants some love.
22. Tell friends about #30DaysWild.
23. Talk to a junior naturalist and encourage their creativity.
24. Photograph a favourite cuddly toy in nature.
25. Add a nature event to your diary.
26. Look closely at a friend’s garden.
27. Take photos for #Rainbowblooms.
28. Find a plant that looks like a bug.
29. Watch a bee.
30. Read a nature-based research paper.
31. Get overawed by nature
32. Watch the dawn.
33. Walk barefoot in dewy grass.
34. Try a nature meditation.
35. Raid and repurpose the recycling.
36. Go on a wild date.
37. Go litter picking.
38. Protect the soil.
39. Make nature art.
40. Watch the sunset
41. Turn your desk wild.
42. Water your plants.
43. Celebrate World Environment Day.
44. Take part in the plastic challenge.
45. Watch nature videos.
46. Tell people who run your favourite hashtag hour on Twitter about 30 Days Wild.
47. Tell a colleague about 30 Days Wild.
48. Take a closer look at foxgloves.
49. Share nature-themed recycled crafting ideas.
50. Have a natural aromatherapy bath.
51. Dress for the weather.
52. Connect with a local nature lover.
53. Look at a puddle closely.
54. Rescue a plant.
55. Make a mini meadow in a recycled container.
56. Photograph wet leaves.
57. Welcome new wildlife to the area.
58. Make a bottle garden.
59. Make a wild bouquet.
60. Collect flower petals for your nature crafting box.
61. Tend a garden.
62. Feel the wind in your hair.
63. Collect leaves for crafting.
64. Grow a tomato.
65. Create a 30 second wildlife habitat.
66. Admire an insect.
67. Photograph something blue.
68. Make a nature video.
69. Go on a flower pot hunt.
70. Wear nature-inspired fashion.
71. Vote for nature.
72. Plan a windowbox walk.
73. Celebrate World Oceans Day.
74. Go wild in a graveyard.
75. Love lichen.
76. Be amazed by moss.
77. Find fungi.
78. Stock up on wild supplies.
79. Bag a bargain to bring back to life.
80. Find something new in nature.
81. Grow your own food.
82. Reflect on nature and what it means to you.
83. Look closely at cuckoo spit.
84. Plant something pollinator friendly.
85. Plant a herb garden and share cuttings.
86. Look for bugs.
87. Let your garden go wild.
88. Read the weather.
89. Brighten a corner of your home with plants.
90. Use an eco friendly search engine.
91. Repurpose plastic packaging.
92. Use biodegradable glitter.
93. Collect flower petals.
94. Find the perfect feather to make a quill.
95. Add fairyland magic to your home with a fairy doll made from recycled materials.
96. Use feathers as home decor.
97. Wear nature-inspired jewellery.
98. Watch the moon.
99. Go for a dawn walk.
100. Invite people to a wild cocktail party.
101. (Try to) put up a bird box.
102. Make a bug habitat.
103. Take a bug’s eye view.
104. Follow an ant.
105. Take a macro shot of the earth.
106. Plant strawberries.
107. Plant a bird seed garden.
108. Collect rainwater for the garden.
109. Think about light pollution (and turn off garden lights when not in use).
110. Create a kitchen herb garden.
111. Put out a bird feeder.
112. Photograph flowers in the dark.
113. Go for a canal walk at dusk.
114. Forage for your supper.
115. Make flower tea.
116. Make a floral face wash.
117. Press flowers.
118. Craft a story with wild finds.
119. Read William Morris’s nature writing.
120. Fill your pockets with pine cones.
121. See fledglings fly the nest.
122. Look through the leaves.
123. Find a baby ladybird.
124. See a seed you sowed grow wild.
125. Pay attention to a warning sign in nature.
126. Find ferns.
127. Find a flower fairy.
128. ID a wildflower.
129. Find nature art.
130. Made floral cocktail ingredients.
131. (Try to) rescue a wildflower.
132. Make a daisy ring.
133. Make a bottle garden and get back to your roots.
134. Follow an ant.
135. Check for evidence of wildlife, in the absence of any obvious creatures.
136. Collect a feather to ID.
137. Find wildlife in the clouds.
138. Find a plant that looks like an alien.
139. Find a solution for a waste problem that annoys you.
140. Research nature-based citizen science.
141. Look at nature through a window.
142. Make something that you need instead of going to the shops.
143. Learn a new nature word.
144. Share a happy nature memory online.
145. Make a natural face mask.
146. Make a herbal remedy (check for any side effects, particularly if you’re on any medications. Medications don’t always mix well with herbal remedies and many people forget to check this. Read up about all the ingredients you’re using to be on the safe side,)
147. Share nature-themed style that you love.
148. Buy a nature-related book (I’m donating all June profits from my book, Go Wild: Over 200 Ways to Connect With Nature to the Wildlife Trusts.)
149. Trade links with another nature blogger.
150. Listen to the dawn chorus.
151. Make an indoor night garden.
152. Made dinner for a hedgehog.
153. Use solar powered lights to reduce the amount of electricity you use.
154. Give nature a libation (pour a bit of drink on the ground and thank nature for all it provides).
155. Go on a mini-beast hunt at night.
156. Photograph a snail.
157. Look into the shadows.
158. Take a different view.
159. Find the fairies at the bottom of the garden.
160. Drink elderberry port outdoors.