*Grey Squirrel amongst the ‘volunteer’ garlic in the garden*

For years I have been gazing out my window, looking out at the little creatures frolicking in my garden and thinking, one day, I will have time to sketch them. But I never have. There has always been something else I need to do. However, as fate would have it, I have been ill for a little while now, unable to travel. Disheartened, I figured I wouldn’t be able to write any travel journals until I made a full recovery. One day though, I had a light bulb thought of why don’t I travel to my backyard?

Lent began on 18 February, so I figured this was a good as time as any to start a 28 day observation and drawing challenge of my backyard. Lent also signifies the wilderness, which I definitely feel like I am currently living in, and 28 days meant it would end on St Patrick’s Day on 17 March. I realise that St Patrick also had his own wilderness time, being trafficked into Ireland and being forced to work as a slave-shepherd in all kinds of weather.

I set a strict drawing challenge brief. I decided that there would be no more than 30 mins sketching on any given day and sketches had to be quick and finished within this timescale. The care factor for whether myself or other people might be pleased with them, set to zero. I am trying to get better at outgrowing the habit of comparing myself to other people and to spend more time focusing on walking my own trail (easier said than done). I generally didn’t sketch on the weekend as I need to take care to rest and be gentle with myself at the moment. I did, however, look out through the telescope at my window sometimes and take some photos/videos if something interesting was going on. Note that I haven’t included all my sketches here either (don’t want to bore you).

By the way, the reference to ‘volunteer’ garlic referred to in the photo above of the grey squirrel in my garden, is stolen from a friend’s story of ‘volunteer’ potatoes. This is where you plant potatoes one year, dig them all up to eat, but somehow you still manage to not find all of them and the next year, the potatoes you didn’t find ‘volunteer’ to grow again without your input. In my friend’s case, I think her dad put them in the compost and they ‘volunteered’ to grow there. Speaking of potatoes, here are some photos of potatoes I grew in my garden back in 2019, together with a charcoal sketch I did at the same time.

Days 1 to 7 (18 to 24 February)

On Day 1 I set up my telescope gear at a window overlooking the garden. I think I have mentioned before my telescope is bottom of the range, so it isn’t particularly sharp and images are often blurry. Occasionally lucky chances result in some images being clearer than others. I’ve also found using different filters on the camera on my mobile phone can help, such as using a black and white filter. I decided to sketch in an absolutely beautiful handmade notebook, with paper of a nice thickness, that I bought at a pop up stall at an International Justice Mission event back in 2019. I think it may have been by Freeset, an organisation with the goal of creating employment opportunities for women affected by sex trafficking. Freeset are now Joyya. Writing this, I realise that this parallels with my comment on St Patrick above. It is heartbreaking that nothing has changed much in the past 1600 years and that trafficking is still a major issue in our world, causing great suffering amongst many. I am very glad for all the work that International Justice Mission do to prevent trafficking. support survivors and help bring perpetrators to justice.

Following the telescope setup, the grey squirrels happened to be out and about. The squirrels move so fast, it is almost impossible to get anything down before they move again. I quite like some of the movements I captured below from my very quick sketches.

*Gestural sketches of grey squirrels in the garden*

A couple of things I’d like to note here about grey squirrels. The first is that they are not native to Scotland and I understand were first introduced to the UK from North America in the 1800s to populate the grounds of stately homes. Their introduction has been to the detriment of the native red squirrel population, one reason being that they are carriers of a squirrel pox virus which they are immune to but can be fatal for the native red squirrels. Grey squirrels also out-compete red squirrels for food and living space. See more info at Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels. I love red squirrels and completely support the work that is being done to save the red squirrels. I have seen images of red squirrels infected by the squirrel pox and it is horrific. I would also like to say, as my own personal thoughts, that it wasn’t the grey squirrels choice to be introduced to the UK and I believe that they are the product of their circumstances. Therefore, I find it hard to damn them for their existence and still think they are lovable creatures, unfortunately in the wrong place. I am interested in drawing creatures that we as humans deem ‘pests’ because I believe quite often these ‘pests’ have been brought about by our own actions and suffer as a result. I had some paintings of grey squirrels on display at an open studios and someone came in who was angry about the injustice caused by grey squirrels to red squirrels and said some unpleasant things to me about the fact I had painted grey squirrels. I get why they were angry (they did later apologise), however I think the situation is complex. I understand there is no requirement in UK law for me to kill grey squirrels and per the Scottish SPCA website although grey squirrels have almost no legal protection, it is still an offence to cause a grey squirrel harm or unnecessary suffering. The SSPCA and RSPCA both suggest the use of non-harmful deterrents wherever possible such as not feeding or sheltering grey squirrels, using squirrel proof bird feeders and regularly using disinfectant to clean bird feeders to help prevent the spread of squirrel pox. Also covering bulbs with wire mesh when planted.

Speaking of bulbs, I bought a stack of bulbs a few years ago and I did cover them with mesh to stop the squirrels digging them up and it worked for me. Here is one of the large crocuses that came up during this drawing challenge, together with a blackbird in the garden.

There are other creatures that visit the garden, some smaller and some larger. Unfortunately, I didn’t sight the badgers or the foxes during this drawing challenge. Honestly, I have only seen the badger once. I got home late from work one night last year and in the pitch dark, to my surprise and delight, snuffling around the grass was the badger. I took a video then, but you can really only see a shape with a white strip and tail running about.

Woodland pigeons frequent the garden a bit - not sure if it is the same one or different ones. I am not a woodland pigeon so I cannot easily tell the difference! Drawing this pigeon, I used some Pigma Brush pens for the colour. I confess that I have too many art materials that I have bought on impulse and not used, so during this project I experimented a bit with using coloured markers I have had lying around.

*Woodland pigeon in tree, ink pens and Pigma Brush pens*

Fortunately, I’ve still been able to manage short walks around my neighbourhood and have taken my sketchbook with me are a few times. While technically not my garden, I’m taking artistic licence and saying these areas still classify as my extended ‘backyard’. The Water of Leith is one of the places I walk to. A few years ago, I noticed there were new waterbirds with spikey haircuts I hadn’t seen before. I did some research and discovered these are Goosanders. These apparently began breeding in Scotland in 1871. The female goosander in particular has stand out spikey orange head feathers. It reminds me a bit of the spikey hair of the lead singer of Roxette in the 80s and 90s. One day, I observed a female goosander preening on the rock. I love this little black and white sketch I did while she was facing the sun. Weirdly following this, a female goosander chased a male goosander, right on his tail and pecking at his bottom while he paddled as fast as he could. A courtship ritual perhaps.

*Female goosander, ink sketch with colour pencils*

I have been listening to Apple Music a lot lately. One morning I came across Dutch Harpist Remy van Kesteren. His cover of Radiohead’s Daydreaming worked some magic and inspired me. Here is the Youtube video of it. Actually, I liked all the ones on his Home Studio Sessions - EP, particularly Perth.

Days 8 to 14 (25 February to 3 March)

On day 9 I looked out the window and there performing acrobatics on an apple tree was a grey squirrel. Bouncing up and down on the branches, then hanging by its tail upside down, followed by a mad dash off the tree and then back again to chew on the branches. Below are some of my sketches of the chewing action. It is little wonder I don’t have much luck in growing apples each year! The only year one of the apple trees had a crazy amount of apples happened to be the year I had been in Australia. I got back and the tree was so overladen with apples and unpruned branches reaching in the direction of the sunshine, that when the wind blew it threatened to pull the tree up by the roots. I had to do emergency tree pruning to save the tree and sadly lost all the apples. Pruning is still something I am learning more about. I watched an RHS apple pruning YouTube video this year and realised there are nifty little compact pruning saws available. I need one of these!

Shortly after that, I sighted a brown wren picking up scraps I think from the bird feeder. Apparently, wrens do this in the winter months when worms are not available.

*Wren in the garden, ink sketch with colour pencils*

The garden seemed to be quite busy that day. A black and white cat soon followed, keen to drink out of the water barrel. As you can see from the sketch it looked at me suspiciously and didn’t end up drinking as a result. Don’t worry, it seems to be a regular visitor and came back another time. The water barrel was originally an experiment for a water feature. I bought marsh marigold and a water lily to put in there. I didn’t realise at the time how many creatures would drink from it. Ranging from woodland pigeons, magpies, cats and grey squirrels, just to name the few of those I sighted using it during this drawing challenge.

*Cat drinking from water barrel, ink pens and Pigma Brushes*

A few days later in the evening, I had finished dinner and about to watch Netflix (side note here, I am currently watching C-drama Pursuit of Jade and K-drama Typhoon Family. Absolutely love Pursuit of Jade, the martial arts, the costumes and the story is so good, I am hooked! Typhoon Family is a cool retro drama set in the 90s during the IMF crisis in South Korea and is also a great watch). I happened to look at a written note I had pinned up and to my surprise a ladybird had crawled onto the word ‘and’. Fascinated, I grabbed my ink pen and red colour pencil and did the little sketches below. Initially I thought it a 2-spot ladybird (melanic form) as it looked to have black legs and smaller in size than Harlequin ladybirds are meant to be. I kept pondering why it clung to the letter ‘and’. Was this a sign to me? What was the significance of the word ‘and’? Did it mean there is something yet additional and good to come into my story. Maybe like bread is good but bread and butter is even tastier (though I have learnt vegan butter not so much lol). I thought maybe the ladybird could be looking for water and worried it would starve to death in my house, I put it outside together with a tiny bit of water and honey. When I went back later it had gone. Did I imagine teeny tiny sticky honey footprints on the plate?

*Ladybird cloning ‘and’, ink pens with colour pencil*

Days 15 to 21 (4 March to 10 March)

The next day, there wasn’t anything much happening in the garden, so while waiting with the telescope, I sketched the ladybird in more detail from a photo I had taken the night before. Zooming in, it turns out the ladybird had brown orange legs. As it also had a ‘M’ white spot on its head and red spots on its body, I concluded it was in fact a harlequin ladybird. Interestingly, the harlequin ladybird is another potentially invasive non-native species. RHS states that ‘the harlequin ladybird originates from Japan and has been introduced as a biological control agent around the world to control aphids. It was not deliberately introduced to Britain or Ireland, but it became established in 2004’. So, it is a non-native like me and the grey squirrel. Perhaps I too am invasive and a pest?? Probably wise if you don’t answer that.

On a positive note, AI (and it may be hallucinating as references aren’t clear to back up its answers here) tells me that the harlequin ladybird symbolises transformation, resilience and adaptability, alongside the traditional ladybug themes of luck, protection and prosperity. So, all good news for me then!

*Harlequin ladybird, ink pens and colour pencil*

On a morning walk round a park, I had seen a bird feeder with a cage around it that the little birds seemed to be able to flit in and out of. Having bought ‘squirrel-proof’ bird feeders over the years I had yet to find one that the grey squirrels didn’t figure out a way to enjoy the spoils inside. As I needed some bird food anyway, I figured I would see if I could find a similar style feeder and ordered this Nuttery Lantern Peanut Feeder from Ark Wildlife. The day after I set it up in the tree, I peered out my telescope to see if there was any uptake from the little birds on the peanuts. Looksee who gets there first…and if you have time to watch all of the 49 second video (time is precious these days after all…), you will see who gets there second. So far, so good, the squirrels haven’t cracked it as the peanuts are steadily going down instead of disappearing overnight.

There appears to be at least three blue tits that flit in and out of my garden. One afternoon they were perching on what I am calling the ‘scraggly bush’ (not sure if it is a dog rose, will have to wait till summer). Frustratingly, all I could get on my telescope were blurry little shapes. When I went out to the garden though, one of them looked like it was about to enter a crack in the wall, so I am thinking they have built a nest there. Later on in the week, one of the blue tits stealthily kept moving from tree to tree, getting closer and closer to the bird feeder. I could see its gorgeous little striped face clearly from where I stood. Next thing, it fluffed up its feathers until it became a little fluff ball. I hope it wasn’t because I had stressed it by looking too long! I left the garden and let it be.

A number of the days of this drawing challenge, the wind was crazy or weather bad or the usual creatures weren’t up to much. A bit of sun lit up the sky one time and at least a couple of magpies came out to play. They seemed to be interested in hanging out in the massive pine tree. I could only catch a glimpse when they ventured out towards the end of the branches. At least the jonquils were also in view to draw when nothing else exciting was happening.

*Hidden Treasures, ink pen and coloured pencil*

There is a beautiful text recorded by one of the prophets of ancient Israel. It reads ‘I will give you the treasures of darkness [the hoarded treasures] And the hidden riches of secret places’. Perhaps this parallels the 17th century phrase by poet John Milton ‘there is a silver lining in every cloud’. Why am I referring to this? Good question. On one of those cloudy mornings, both literally and metaphorically, a grey squirrel had hidden under that ‘scraggly bush’, munching on something in secret. It seemed to be hiding from its pals, not wanting them to get their paws on its hidden treasure. Looking at this squirrel, the hidden treasures text popped into my head. It reminded me that even in this crappy illness that I wish would go away (I am trying to be patient and not get cranky, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not), there are treasures to be found, that may have stayed hidden if I remained in happier times. One of which is, as aforementioned, the opportunity of time to gaze out my window, see and draw who visits my garden and the joy I have received in doing so. Another is the time to think and sort through some things I have been avoiding and not had headspace to work through. There is also obviously the chance to write this journal and speak to you. I am sure other treasures are on the way.

Because I like drawing both red and grey squirrels, my sister used to teasingly call me ‘Squirrelee’ (this is boldly underlined in red as a spelling error by the spell checker lol). She would laughingly joke that I should marry a Mr Lee and then I could be Squirrelee Lee. She couldn’t stop giggling at that one. I can still see her face while she was laughing, very pleased with herself at her own joke. I miss her so much and that look of laughing delight.

Days 22 to 30 (11 March to 17 March)

As well as the black and white cat that roams my garden, there is also a very fluffy black one. I imagine both are keen on keeping an eye on the bird feeders for little birds they can snaffle. The fluffy one appeared nonchalant one day as it reclined on my storage unit not far from the bird feeders.

Getting towards the remaining days of the drawing challenge, I began to wane a bit and decided to exploit my artistic licence again in my extended definition of ‘backyard’ and ventured out to a local park, where crows seem to always hang out. While sitting there, a man threw out a whole lot of bird seed that they all flocked to. The wind blew ferociously that day and I liked how the crows hunkered low on their legs and huddled into themselves to brace against the force of it. I sketched with my hot drink perched between my knees and one hand often times on my hoodie to protect against the sun showers. The park is a wonderful sun trap on clear blue sky days with a beautiful view overlooking the city. During this time of illness, it has been a blessing to be able to go there and sit for a while in the sun, listening to and watching the crows. The crows are quite comical as they walk. Sometimes I find it hard to tell the difference between crows and ravens. I love the Bird and Moon comic ‘Raven vs Crow’ on the Rosemary Mosco website which shows the differences in an entertaining way. There looks to be more comics like this for other creatures too.

I’ll end with a black and white video I took of a grey squirrel digging up hidden treasure as the wind whipped the grass and some colour sketches as it scampered around the garden.

*Squirrel amongst the daffodils and ‘volunteer’ garlic, ink pens and Staedtler triplus colour markers*

As a postscript, the one thing that no creature in the garden seems to touch, apart from me, is the rhubarb. As it is doing splendidly, I have picked some tonight and plan to make poached rhubarb using this recipe. The ingredients are a bit fancy, but now that I already have them from the poached pears I made, might as well enjoy them. Oh and one of the blue tits was in the garden just now, enjoying the peanuts from the peanut feeder.

This has been a marathon of a travel journal to read, so you too must getting hungry and need to eat.

Bon appetite!

The Wee Scottish Garden, Scotland

Days 1 to 7 (18 to 24 February)

Days 8 to 14 (25 February to 3 March)

Days 15 to 21 (4 March to 10 March)

Days 22 to 30 (11 March to 17 March)

Isle of Arran, Scotland