Starting 2026 with an unexpected mention in The Yorkshire Post weekend issue. Thank you Tony Johnson and team. Great to be alongside great nature success stories, plus lots of useful ideas for winter walks. Some of my paintings are still up in Old Town Post Office for a little while longer.

Frozen moor, went up and round on a short loop with @lyonanderson. Still feel rough with a cold but it was too frozen and sunny to stay in. Looking out at Stoodley Pike and Heptonstall, also Walshaw Moor with Widdop reservoir. Lots of paths slides of ice - we’ve hit -4C and lower up on the tops.

I document some of my treasured encounters with wildlife in my Wildlife Diary here: www.wildway.info/s/wildlife

In late-February I cut what is left of our ornamental wildlife garden up and chuck the pieces around to decompose as a mulch - though actually most plants are flattened by snow, wind and rain for us anyway! www.wildway.info/p/cut-and-ch...

How to grow snakeshead fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris. Once thought to be native to the UK, it is now considered introduced, growing wild in various places. www.wildway.info/p/fritillari... (article for paid subscribers)

Chris bought me this and it is the base cook book I have always wanted! Simple recipes that sound hearty and delicious - I want to eat everything in it

You can take part up until Sunday! You don’t have to do it on New Year’s Day. Which is just as well because as usual I’ve come down with a bad cold so am not up to it. But hope to be out there over the weekend! I did see a buttercup in flower earlier.

Graphs showing global and UK temperatures rising in line with carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere, which we know traps heat inside

Following my own advice and spent this evening researching and ordering a first batch of seed packets (think I’ve come down with the lurg too, which is less good)

Wonderful to see London’s wildlife again I loved it so much when we were there. Also an interesting autobiographical programme on Attenborough. I was also glad to see the idea that hedgehogs don’t eat slugs and snails challenged - that idea never felt right to me. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

January gardening: midwinter ideas - grow your own food and wildlife friendly flowers www.wildway.info/p/january-ga...

Newsletter locked and loaded to send first thing tomorrow - today is the last day to subscribe for £25/year, it will go up slightly to £26/year for 2026 www.wildway.info but still keeping it much cheaper than others to be as accessible as possible 💞

Happy 2026!

Today I’ve been working on a big new article for paid subscribers to wildway.info which I will hopefully publish tomorrow or the next day - helping you to get your garden off to a fantastic start this year for both food and wildlife! 💞

Divide and coppice - cutting certain trees and shrubs down to the ground triggers regrowth from the stumps www.wildway.info/p/divide-and...

Onshore wind still not moving - until the UK Government produces a map of suitable sites for the public to decide where it goes, it will always be like this www.jackwallington.com/why-the-uk-n... such an easy step I don’t understand why Governments don’t take it

Some traditions are vile and should not be celebrated - this is one of them. I grew up and live in the countryside.

I always find it frustrating with archaeology that researchers apply a modern day religious or ritualistic lens to finds that are so old they have no real evidence for those activities. Quite often what is described as for ritual use could easily simply be art or have a practical use.

Really interesting programme - I guessed the structures’ use immediately. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Nine miles to walk off some of the meals

80% of the UK have consistently wanted fox hunting to be banned - it is a vile and embarrassing tradition carried out by a tiny minority of cruel people. It has been illegal for years but continues to be celebrated by these people and illegal hunts still rip beautiful foxes apart alive.

Reintroducing lynx and wolves is the main longterm solution to controlling deer numbers www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

However you celebrate at this time of year I hope you have a happy and restful time ☀️ I’ve been with my family in North Yorkshire and just arrived back across moors and valleys to be with Chris and his family ✨

A little surprise present for you all, in the January edition of @gardenersworldmag.bsky.social the results of my latest and best tomato trial. Listing cultivars I grew of cherry, salad and beefsteak’s that are guaranteed for flavour, yield and vigour. Grown entirely peat free and organic. Out now!

Something is eating all the winter salad leaves in our polytunnel. I think it might be a wren 😮

Annual gift subscriptions to the Wild Way can be sent by email for £25/year, available here: www.wildway.info/subscribe?gi...

“By the end of 2025, the UK's 10 warmest years on record will all have taken place in the last two decades, in measurements going back to the late 1800s.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... but sure, believe the fossil fuel companies and their spokespeople Trump and Farage

Stillness Kestrel - a New Year walk along hilltop grassland being watched from afar www.wildway.info/p/stillness-...

Stillness Kestrel - a New Year walk along hilltop grassland being watched from afar www.wildway.info/p/stillness-...

Wildlife Diary: Stillness Kestrel - a New Year walk along hilltop grassland being watched from afar www.wildway.info/p/stillness-...

Petition asking the Labour Government to put a timeline on the ban of peat based composts by @peatfree.bsky.social has flown past 5,000 signatures already. Labour is damaging economic growth in the horticulture sector with uncertainty on this issue actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

No disrespect at all to these people as I’m happy for them but I wish solstice stories were balanced out with how people like me celebrate this natural moment in the year just by enjoying the day with a walk or with friends, without any worship, ritual or religion. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Fantastic news - all trophy or fun hunting and related activities used to keep it going should not be allowed in the UK

Winter solstice, shortest day of the year for the northern hemisphere because we’re at a point in earth’s orbit of the sun where our end of the planet is tilted away from the star. Solstice is the scientific term for that exact point in the orbit. From today the daylight grows slowly longer before..

Star garlands with twine made using the Line of Beauty, festive literary vibe with a touch of occasional eroticism #wintersolstice

It’s a sad indictment of Britain’s ignorance of nature that Sycamore Gap petitions - for a tree that mattered to humans but not nature - received tens of thousands of signatures but a petition to protect entire peatland habitats is stuck at 1,500 actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

Galium verum | lady's bedstraw - learn about this incredibly stylish wildflower for contemporary designs www.wildway.info/p/galium-ver...

Galium verum | lady's bedstraw - learn about this incredibly stylish wildflower for contemporary designs www.wildway.info/p/galium-ver...

Ask the Government to confirm a timeline for the legislation of a ban on the sale of peat compost - protect peatland habitat - now over 4,000 signatures, sign today! actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

It’d be amazing to reach 5,000 signatures by the end of the year - enough is enough! Ban peat compost now. actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

An absolute disaster for nature, climate and humanity - everything we depend on to survive, from food to water, requires a healthy natural world. In the UK nature is already at rock bottom, one of the worst in the world. This Government is doing the unthinkable and harming what little is left.

A couple of practices yesterday of an amazing sunrise we had this week (bottom) and sunset (top). Both of these were unsuccessful as they don’t capture either for me. However they were successful for fun and continued practice with colour and mark making.

If you're looking for a last minute gift for someone (or yourself!) annual gift subscriptions to my Wild Way newsletter and supported garden course can be scheduled to arrive by email on a certain day www.wildway.info/subscribe?gi...

Polar bear cub that lost its mother adopted by another bear www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If you're looking for a last minute gift for someone (or yourself!) annual gift subscriptions to my Wild Way newsletter and supported garden course can be scheduled to arrive by email on a certain day www.wildway.info/subscribe?gi...

Please sign to end peat sales. This is a new petition, as the previous ones were for the previous government. Thank you 👍 #peatfree

Absolutely shocking. We're offering an overall award of £10k for information that leads to a conviction in these cases. We need to make raptor persecution a thing of the past.

I’m repotting Chilean guava into bigger pots, it’s fine to do this in winter and in many ways it’s better because it protects the roots from cold. The roots will continue growing through winter helping the plant grow strongly in spring.

Thank you everyone for getting this close to 2,000 signatures in the last few days 🥰

I had a very efficient day today, I don’t know why that’s cause for celebration but it is 😄 a trip into Leeds for a photoshoot (I was taking the photos) then lots of writing and garden design plans for 2026 which make me happy 😊 hopefully tomorrow it’ll continue and I’ll have some time for painting.