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The grey squirrel that inhabits the trees overlooking the horses fields is a busy chap. He chunters away to himself as he hops, skips and jumps along the stone wall, looking like a video on replay that has got stuck. He never acknowledges me. He is far too important for that! Squirrel teaches me about the power of focus, sticking to the job until it is done. Usually when I see him, I am reminded that my focus has lapsed for a moment. In our garden we have an abundance of birds. I love the housemartins best as several years back I nursed a baby, along with his parents help. Birdie's tail feathers were badly damaged from an attack on the nest by a sparrow, so we had no choice but to try and care for him. The sparrow kept throwing him out of the nest. We fed him at night, sitting him on my hand, hovering him near the ceiling looking for the insects. It was quite a ritual. The windows were open and the lights on and I invited the insects in to satisfy the voracious appetite of our tiny bird. During the day we would sit Birdie on his log, beneath a hand made canopy [to keep predatory birds away] and his mom and dad would swoop down and feed him all day. Friends that called could not quite believe it. It certainly wasn't normal bird behaviour Birdie on his log - waiting to be fed Birdies mom [or dad] leaving after a quick feed

We both realised fairly early on that we had been gifted this incredible experience. As I look at the pictures of him it takes me back to a magical three weeks of sharing my life with this feisty little character. Housemartins do everything on the wing, and their lesson to me is just that. Learn to be flexible, fly with the wind and eat when you can!

One night as I set off for my walk, I was feeling a little low. There was no real reason, it was just one of those days. I asked for a sign to help lift my spirits, and started off down the hill. As I crossed over the field and onto the track I saw a huge buzzard, flying around me with his beautiful big brown graceful wings. Wow! A second later a hare dived out in front of me and looked into my eyes for what seemed like a disproportionate amount of time. He sped away and only seconds later I saw a young deer standing about 30 yards along the track. I called the dogs to me and froze, willing the beautiful brown doe to stay a while. She stared hard at the three of us, and then casually leapt the fence and bounced across the field. Each one of these animals showed me something different, but I felt the connection of spirit before their instinct kicked in. Some nights the calves and cows follow me across the fields. I am sure that they are more interested in my little whippet than they are me. She does after all look like a tiny calf. I walk along and ignore them for a while, then suddenly turn around and spook them. They buck and kick and pretend to be scared and then they come back for more. I am sure that they think it is great fun. One night I sat on the bridge and, listening to my favourite track, I sang to them. They all stood watching me, a strange expression on their face. It was hard to decipher if they were thinking 'nutter', or 'that's nice'. I guess it doesn't matter really! Cows! What do they teach us? I think they have taught me not to underestimate 'livestock. These cows clearly have a sense of fun and a sense of humour and I think that's great. A few nights ago I watched transfixed as a group of 30 or more lambs were playing together. The farmer had a small bonfire around ten yards from the muckheap in the field. The lambs were running to the top of the muckheap, stopping ['I'm the king of the castle'] and then charging off to the bonfire. Once there, a couple of them would break away and gallop back to the muckheap, and so it went on. It looked such a fun game, so simple and yet so unique. As I laughed to myself, I realised that I hadn't been playing much lately and resolved to have some fun the next day. Start to observe every animal that you see and find out about how that animal lives it's life. I can guarantee that in most circumstances they will have something to teach you. Well I am off for my walk now. I wonder what animals I will see tonight?