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1/1/20. #2minutebeachclean. It's quick, it's good exercise reaching, running and bending, it's fun, it's social, it can be done anywhere and it's good for the planet. What's not to love about the 2 minute beach clean. Try it! https://beachclean.net/

1/1/20 We had a family new year's dip at St Bees in rough seas, very exhilarating. John Muir would have loved the full immersion experience.

There was an article in the Guardian earlier this week about BlueHealth, a programme researching the health and wellbeing benefits of blue space across 18 countries. They are finding that proximity to water is associated with many positive measures of mental wellbeing. The coast seems to be especially effective, with the suggestion that the ebb and flow of the tides can help alleviate negative rumination - the lead scientist says “What we find is that spending time on the beach, there’s a transition towards thinking outwards towards the environment, thinking about those patterns – putting your life in perspective, if you like.” Last weekend, I was on route 7 at Doonfoot shore doing a recce for a bird ID course we are running there, encouraging people to do the RSPB Birdwatch survey on the National Cycle Network. The clouds were gathering but it was a needed outing, and the list of birds started to rack up - the 'knowns' and, with the help of a guidebook, the 'never-knowns' and 'forgottens'. Mute swan, mallard, stonechat, redwing, teal, rock pipit, turnstone, twite. Most captivating, however, was the solid group of 70+ redshanks that moved in unison between riverbank and shoreline each time a boisterous cocker spaniel scattered them. Hunkered down, they were a knot of brown fluff, but in flight their red legs stood right out in an otherwise panicky blur of feathers and wings. There was no space for overthinking new year's resolutions, or life's forward creep - the Christmas cobwebs were blown out and replaced with sea air, names, light, observations, delight and questions. There doesn't seem to be a collective noun for redshanks, but I'm naming them 'a health'.

Today we have been using our ears to listen for all the different types of birds at our school. We looked at the RSPB's website and listened to some different bird calls. We decided to listen out for robins, seagulls and pigeons especially. When we went outside we saw blue tits, robins, seagulls and even heard a woodpecker! Some of us spotted some bird's nests that were already in the trees and we also made sure last year's bird boxes were ready for some new nests.

We have already got some frogspawn and daffodils in The Secret Garden. This is quite early compared to a lot of places in the UK. The temperature this afternoon was about 11 degrees and the sun was shining, so it was lovely working outside.

17 Dec. We were interviewed for Look North for a follow up to a report they filmed about the River Keekle project earlier in the year. For that report myself and Rosie were interviewed to gain our opinion as local residents on the project. This time it was to show the benches and our reaction to them. 18th Dec. The report was screened and Rosie saw herself on television talking about the benches and Willow saw herself enjoying a mince pie :)