Also known as Wolfs bane or Monkshood in Britain..... Used extensively in traditional medicine wherever it is found, aconites are well known for their toxicity, from which lethal poisons have been made over the centuries....
They brightened up our day, adding splashes of colour to a winter drained garden. The snow drops too, bowed gracefully before us. The oldest sparrow took this lovely picture of them;
Anglesey Abby is an enormous National Trust property that the sparrows love to visit. As well as beautiful gardens there is a wild woods, a manor house and a water mill. Armed with a picnic and an explorer pack, it's a place they can run around ALL DAY.
We were treated on this wintry visit, not only to splashes of yellow and white from the aconites and snowdrops, but to bundles of bright red ladybirds, waiting for warmer weather. We were serenaded by a robin and I had an 'up close and personal' visit with a Goldcrest- the UK's smallest bird
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As a mother of sons, it is my experience that the sparrows are happiest out in the wild, where they can run, jump, climb and shout. And I am happiest in the wild with them because barking out orders gets tiring and out in the wild there just aren't as many rules...
We stayed until the sun started to set.
Kimmie,
ReplyDeleteThankyou so much for your beautiful blog! We are homeschooling in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the aconites and snowdrops are just out. You have given me so much inspiration for our nature study tonight! Thanks, Helen.