About Chaotic Green Spirit
Where Curiosity Took Root
I was born in 1997, when childhood was spent outdoors more often than it was spent staring at screens. Most weekends were spent at my cousins' house in the little village of Liddeston, where the adults gathered in the kitchen while we were gently encouraged to disappear outside and entertain ourselves.
So we did!
We climbed trees to peer into birds' nests, rolled hay bales down fields, built dens from anything we could find, and squeezed through tangled hedgerows in search of hidden places. We explored Goose Pill Woods looking for old bottles near the priory, and I was convinced the giant lily pads in the woods were home to fairies.
One adventure ended with my cousin sinking waist-deep into a patch of bog while we were trying to cross it on a fallen log. After pulling her out, my other cousin quietly swapped trousers with her so she could walk home warm and dry.
Most days ended the same way: big smiles, muddy shoes, scratched legs, and me so filthy that my mum sometimes
had to drive home to fetch clean clothes before she'd even let me back in the car.
And honestly, I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Finding Wonder in the Ordinary
Looking back, I think those adventures shaped the way I still see the world.
I've always noticed the little things.
A forgotten footpath disappearing into the trees. A strange stone.
An old bottle hidden beneath the leaves.
A flower growing through the cracks of a ruined wall.
It's never just the object that captures my attention. It's the story of it.
I love the questions that places, plants and curious objects leave behind.
The forgotten histories, old folklore,
hidden paths and tiny details that so many people walk straight past.
Those are the things that make me stop, wonder and inevitably disappear
down another rabbit hole.
“The only difference between an extraordinary life and an ordinary one is the extraordinary pleasures you find in ordinary things.”
–Veronique Vienne
The Curiosity Cabinet
Chaotic Green Spirit grew from that same curiosity.
This website is my Curiosity Cabinet. A place where I collect the plants, places, folklore, history, wildlife and wonderfully strange discoveries that refuse to leave my mind. Some become short observations. Others become deep rabbit holes.
Whether it's an unusual plant, a forgotten footpath, a curious object, a piece of folklore or a forgotten corner of the natural world, everything here begins with the same question:
"I wonder..."
If you're the kind of person who slows down to look a little closer, wonders about forgotten stories, or can't resist exploring the path that disappears into the trees, I think you'll feel at home here.
Welcome to my Curiosity Cabinet.
Behind the Cabinet
🌿 Drawn to: Hidden paths and overlooked places
📚 Bookshelf: Folklore, field guides, natural history and herbalism
🕵️♀️ Usually collecting: Curious objects and the stories behind them
🌳 Favourite places: Ancient woodland, coastlines and hedgerows
💭 Always asking: "I wonder..."
⚡ Powered by: Energy drinks, curiosity and one more rabbit hole