Celebrating the healing joy of small things is very much what this blog is about. Noticing the ordinary miracles right where we are: clover flowers that smell just like honey, bees visiting the flowers like little furry suns, crystal rain drops on a perfect leaf… Sharing awareness of the often undervalued power of simplicity and presence is one of my favourite things—you could say it’s one of my love languages. If you spend any time with me you have to be prepared for a lot of “Ohhh look!” and ever-repeated amazement at the simplest of things. I find perpetual wonder and ever-renewed innocence when looking at nature. I often feel I am seeing things for the first time, no matter how many times I have actually admired them before. There is always something new to discover, some fascinating detail to observe and marvel at. The tiny blushing faces of flowers make me stop with their heart-melting beauty. I am overwhelmed by their natural grace and simple presence, they seem to speak in a qu...

"Do black sheep exist?" was the first suggestion Google offered when I had a question about these magnificent animals… which indicates that many people genuinely wonder whether black sheep are real or mythological. Some people take advantage of that: I was once conned into buying a "rare and genuine" black sheepskin online. When it arrived, I saw the skin at the back was grey, the wool oddly dry, an unnaturally black colour, the delightful smell of sheep completely gone—it had obviously been dyed. When I challenged the seller, he assured me that real black sheep were "one in a million" and that I knew nothing about it! And while it's true that black sheep are much rarer than white ones, I am lucky to see many of both colours where I live in Kilmartin Glen, so I was not so easily conned.  The same thing happened to my friend in the Netherlands, where she was invited to buy a "naturally black" blanket which turned out to be dyed with some awful...