Embracing the green with a desire to spend more time in the garden

Embracing the green with a desire to spend more time in the garden

As modern life increasingly accelerates around us, our gardens can offer us a peaceful respite. These hidden corners of green may hold the key to leading a more balanced and relaxed existence, trading blue screen light for vibrant hues of nature is not only tempting but increasingly necessary. Let’s look at why more people yearn to return to their roots, both metaphorically and literally.

Rediscovering nature’s playground

Gardens offer more than decorative aspects for our homes: they’re nature’s playgrounds waiting to be discovered. Gardens offer us an unparalleled chance to reconnect with nature and rediscover its joys, like watching bees pollinate flowers or listening to their leaves rustle in the breeze. Unlike manicured parks, gardens provide personalised Edens that reflect one’s own flair and nurturing skills while helping us slow down and focus on living fully in each moment.

The health benefits we’re neglecting

Tending to our gardens not only brings peace, but it can provide tangible physical advantages we often neglect. Gardening provides a low-impact workout, working muscles gently while increasing flexibility and increasing exposure to sunshine. Important in getting enough vitamin D which benefits bone and immune health as well as providing much-needed exposure for vitamin absorption and release from an indoor lifestyle. Plus it gives us time away from screens which provides us a welcome relief from screen-induced lethargy that’s become all too common.

Cultivating creativity and learning

Gardening is not solely reserved for experienced horticulturists with extensive botanical knowledge. It’s also an outlet for creative expression, offering us an infinite canvas on which we can exercise our artistic muscles by selecting plant combinations, arranging blooms and designing layouts to create vibrant displays on bare earth. Gardening also serves as an invaluable educational experience. Each plant taken from seedling to bloom teaches lessons in patience, nurturing and life cycles that may otherwise go unappreciated.

Enhancing your garden experience with sheds

Installing a garden shed in your outdoor space can transform it into an inviting retreat. Garden sheds provide practical storage solutions, housing tools and equipment, for reduced clutter and more room for enjoyment. A well-designed shed can even enhance its aesthetic appeal, serving as a focal point that complements plants and landscaping or customised as a cosy nook to help provide shelter from the elements. Creating more accessible gardens that encourage longer hours spent enjoying nature.

Combatting urban blues

Gardens provide much-needed green spaces in urban living environments that often feel cramped and concrete-shaded. Even modest balconies can become verdant havens by installing vertical gardens or compact planters to cultivate impressive arrays of flora in limited spaces. Not only is this beneficial to purifying air quality and relaxing muscles, but it is also proven effective against stress and anxiety often associated with urban life.

Conclusion

At a time when technology increasingly dominates our lives and digital detoxes have become popular, spending more time in the garden is both desirable and important. From physical wellness, mental clarity or simply nurturing life itself, gardens offer many benefits we should all embrace. So let’s put down our screens, don our gardening gloves and experience its tranquil embrace to find ourselves anew.

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Price Points: Dog activity monitors

Dog activity monitors

Barley and I are currently taking part in the Dogs Trust 99km for Canines fund-raising campaign. It’s happening for the entire month of October, and you can keep up with our own personal journey on our Facebook page.

I’ve been using an app on my phone to track the number of kilometres that I’ve walked; however, Barley is walking (and running) way more than me! I’ve been contemplating getting one of these dog activity trackers that attaches to his collar to see just how much more exercise he’s been getting.

After reading about what each one does and doesn’t do, I think the Pawfit monitor (#2) fits our bill. Firstly, it’s waterproof for those sea and river dips. Next, it tells me the distances that Barley clocks up with all his darting through the trees in the woods and galloping along the beach. Another important function is that it gives me Barley’s exact GPS location – for any unforeseen times he wanders off so far that he gets lost and is out of earshot. For instances like that, the Pawfit is fitted with a microphone that would allow me to speak to Barley – perhaps calling his name for him to come and search for me.

  1. PitPat dog activity monitor: £39.00, Pets at Home

    Advanced “dogorithms” analyse those complex movements every 10 minutes to decide what activity your dog was doing during that period. They also allow an estimation of daily distance covered and calories burnt.

  2. Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor: £54.99, Amazon

    Flexible and affordable subscription rate starting from £3.39/month. Choose from a 1, 6, 12 or 24-month Premium or Basic subscription plan

  3. PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking: £116.99, eBay

    If you need to track your pets when you are inside the house with pets running outside, the performance could not be guaranteed, the connection could be very unstable due to massive obstructions between controller and tracker.

shop dog activity monitors

Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.

PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
£116.99
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
£54.99
PitPat dog activity monitor
PitPat dog activity monitor
£39.00
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
£116.99
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
£54.99
PitPat dog activity monitor
PitPat dog activity monitor
£39.00
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
£116.99
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
£54.99
PitPat dog activity monitor
PitPat dog activity monitor
£39.00
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
£116.99
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
£54.99
PitPat dog activity monitor
PitPat dog activity monitor
£39.00
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
PETFON1 smart GPS tracker real-time dog tracking
£116.99
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
Pawfit 2 pet GPS tracker & activity monitor
£54.99
PitPat dog activity monitor
PitPat dog activity monitor
£39.00

Price Points: Outdoor pizza ovens

Outdoor pizza ovens

Move over barbecues, you’re now passé – outdoor pizza ovens are the al fresco cooking gadgets to own these days!

The most basic pizza oven comes in at just over 150 quid – but for one that has all the bells & whistles and looks like a supermodel, prepare to pay up to five grand! I think I’d invest in the budget example in the first instance – see how often it gets a workout. If enthusiasm doesn’t wane and the British weather allows for regular use, I’d think about upgrading to the mid-range Ooni. Much as the canary yellow Charlie catches my eye (it’s also available in 7 other beautiful colours), I can’t imagine spending that amount of money on an oven – unless it’s an Esse range that’s indoors, sees everyday use and helps to heat the house!

  1. Outdoor tabletop pizza oven: £159.99, Vonhaus

    Fuelled by pellets and including a pizza stone to give you that authentic stone-baked flavour, you can also use this oven for smoking fish, meat or vegetables.
    The double layer design allows for a hotter inner temperature to have your pizza ready in no time, and the speedy heat up means it will be ready for cooking in only 15 minutes reaching temperatures of up to 350°C. Finished off with an ash collector, tidying up is even quicker.
    With a max pizza size of 13 inches, this is a perfect pizza oven for a pizza making night with the family.

    When all the slices are gone, the removable chimney and foldable legs allows for easy storage until next time.

  2. Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven: £699.00, Ooni

    Multiple fuel options for maximum cooking versatility
    Cook with wood or charcoal out of the box, or use gas with the Ooni Karu 16 Gas Burner (sold separately)
    Reaches 500°C (950°F) in just 15 minutes
    New hinged oven door design with ViewFlame™ technology to boost visibility
    Mounted digital thermometer displays internal ambient oven temperature (batteries included)
    Large cooking area fits up to 16-inch pizzas and other substantial cooks

  3. Charlie outdoor charcoal oven: £4,950.00, Charlie

    Charcoal BBQ, pizza oven, smoker, charcoal grill
    Crafted from the finest quality stainless steel, and comes with a powder-coated finish in a choice of 8 vibrant colours.
    Charlie is weatherproof and designed to work whatever the weather! Unlike top-opening barbecues or ovens, our front-opening design minimises heat loss and the impact of the weather conditions.
    Charlie’s sealed design and superior thermal insulation mean it uses 45% less charcoal than an open grill. As a result, one modest load of charcoal will last for around six hours.
    Charlie has 2.5 times the capacity of a domestic oven! It has nine cooking rack positions to allow many different cooking options. Cook indirectly (away from the fire) or directly (close to the fire). The cooking racks are professional-grade, and each oven comes with two racks as standard.

shop outdoor pizza ovens

Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99

Outdoor volunteering opportunities

Outdoor volunteering opportunities

I’m not one for making new year resolutions; however, I often muse on things I can do to improve myself and my surroundings. Since getting a puppy in October, we’ve begun spending more time outdoors again. In so doing, we’ve been getting fitter, getting to know our environs better and meeting new people… and dogs.

I’ve been thinking that stepping it up a notch and getting into outdoor volunteering opportunities is something I can do in 2022.

  • The Wildlife Trusts
    There are 260 different opportunities available at present on their website; from tree planting in Devon, livestock checking in Hertfordshire to Peatland Restoration Conservation Days in Cumbria.

    The Wildlife Trusts is a grassroots movement of people from a wide range of backgrounds and all walks of life, on a mission to restore a third of the UK’s land and seas for nature by 2030. We believe everyone, everywhere, should have access to nature and the joy and health benefits it brings.

  • RSPB
    They offer residential opportunities such as 4 weeks in the Lake District dry stone walling, mending fences and helping in the tree nursery and with the badger hide or 6 months in Surrey surveying & managing heathland where species such as woodlarks and nightjars call home.
    If you only have a day or a few hours per week there are many things all around the country in which you can get involved. For instance, one of the opportunities not far from us is practical habitat management at the nature reserve, Ynys-hir. There are even opportunities suitable for under 18s.
    Check out some of their volunteering stories over on their Facebook volunteering page.
  • Trash Free Trails C.I.C.
    I was so excited to come across this project – I’ve already signed up!
    For years, seeing litter while out on dog walks and rambles put a dampener on the otherwise pleasurable experience of being in the great outdoors. I usually took it upon myself to collect it all up to take home to put into the recycling/rubbish bin. And now I have found a community getting together to share what they do! It something you can do on your own, with friends or as an organised group.

    …To reduce plastic pollution on our trails and wild places by 75% by 2025 and (re)connect people with nature through purposeful adventure.