WE can all take a leaf out of nature’s book.

In a world which has been turned upside down over the past six months we can all draw comfort in the natural world.

Lao Tzu said “Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished.”

We can see signs of nature’s industry all around us.

In our fields, skies and streams which team with life to our homes where we are fortunate to have a close up view of the wonders of the natural world through our windows.

A curious cow or posing sheep is never far away while closer to home some of us are fortunate enough to have the company of a pet.

Pets have become all the more important during lockdown.

Perhaps dogs and cats have somehow learned their owners are anxious or perhaps they are just happy to have their humans to themselves every day.

One thing is for sure is that English novelist George Eliot’s praise for pets as “such agreeable friends, they ask no questions, they make no criticisms” is one adage which continues to ring true today as it did during Eliot’s time.

Some people have looked even further back into the natural world and past countryside practises during lockdown.

Bee keeping has been a human trait for 10,000 years and thanks to generations of hobbyists the practise remains popular and includes Aristotle to Henry Fonda among its past members.