Sunny afternoon

The abysmal rain (though much needed) has now dried up and we have had a week of sunshine and heat. I had a day off today so I went to the RSPB Lodge at Sandy to have a walk round and take photos. We were only there a few weeks ago but a couple of weeks can make a big difference.

I went a bit obsessive with the photos of azaleas and rhododendron because I just love them. Below is a photo of a bumble bee collecting the pollen.

The garden at the lodge is looking stunning with irises (pictured below) poppies, lavender, wisteria covered walls.

Whilst sitting on a bench in the nature reserve I checked my twitter to see that Mind (the mental health organisation) were encouraging people to share what helped them keep "mentally healthy." I tweeted that I tried to make sure that I spent some time either in the garden or somewhere in nature to help me relax. 

It seemed very apt to be discussing this today as I have been coping with one of my mood swings lately, Not depression this time but instead I have been quite hyper or manic. My CBT nurse is referring me back to start a new cycle of treatment with her, so we can focus on the mood swings. I know that I've come a long way from a few years back and I've really worked on my anxiety and stress, so my mood swings are not as marked as they used to be but there is still some way to go.

Being in the nature reserve really helped me feel calm today. I'm having to work on slowing down, something I've been working on for a while. But as well as slowing down the walk around the nature reserve and gardens made me feel incredibly glad to be alive and able to see such beautiful flowers and plants.

My favourite photo today is of the poppies above. I just love the fiery petals.

As ever I didn't see any birds at the reserve but I heard plenty, including a cuckoo and a woodpecker. Just being immersed in the sound of all the birdsong is so calming. It's one of the things I love about living here in Biggleswade there is always bird song, you don't have to go to the nature reserve the gardens and fields here are full of bird song and the joy of their flight.

As always you can see all my photos from today on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/happysalmon/