A Bug’s Life on Lock Down

Week one on lock down is complete, and I have to be honest and say its such a strange feeling.  I wake up at the same time ever day but I have no shop to go to to open, no customers to serve, no displays to create, no orders to place. I’ve found myself hoovering.. a lot, and cleaning everything insight. Quite frankly it’s very weird.

However from all weird situations I find opportunity can be found..  For the first few days of lock down we were blessed with really lovely weather which meant I was able to get in the garden and potter about. I have no idea what I am doing in the garden I should add, I just dig stuff up with my pretty flowery trowel and gloves https://magpiesnest.co.uk/?s=trowel&post_type=product and replant it in another pot, repeating this process the following week. Whilst taking a well earned break from my replanting cycle I was googling “Easy garden projects” and came across these ideas to make bug hotels https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/give-nature-a-home-in-your-garden/garden-activities/build-a-bug-hotel/. So this became my little project – it was really easy to do, I didn’t need to buy anything I foraged bits of wood on my daily walk, gathered twigs and created the “Hotel Crawl -ifauna” Our first residents were a rather large spider with red dots and a wood louse. As I don’t exactly love spiders, I am thrilled about this. Come to think of it, I’m not right keen on insects. Well, I like frogs and butterflies but that is about it.. maybe I didn’t think this through fully… Or… maybe being positive, all the insects in the garden will live in the hotel having amazing bug parties and not bother me when I’m gardening… I’ll let you know how that pans out:) I used the exfoliating hand wash and hand cream from our In The Garden range (https://magpiesnest.co.uk/?s=in+the+garden&post_type=product) I found the hand wash was better than standard liquid soap as the bits in it helped to get the dirt out from my nails. The hand cream soaked in quickly too.

This could easily be something you can do as a garden project, and bug hotels can be any size and it will certainly keep kids (even the big kids!) occupied as after they have built the hotel they can keep any eye on what bugs have moved in, research the bugs and maybe do some drawings, make some models or creative writing about the bugs. Please share your creations with me, I’d love to see them:) info@magpiesnest.co.uk

Take care of each other, be patient and kind during this time and remember to enjoy the simple things in life.

Stay Safe Liz x