Ian also had a great love of nature and loved this world with all God’s creatures in it. He was a true gentleman, who would help anyone needing it. Animals were very special to Ian and he would rescue spiders from the house as I was, and still am scared of them, but he would not kill them. As Ian would say they, too, are God’s creatures. I have now got used to getting spiders out of the house unhurt. Ian had a love for butterflies and moths and would watch for any that arrived in our garden. Sadly they started to disappear the last few years of Ian's life and he was really sad as he said it showed how we humans were ruining the planet. 

Ian would sit in the conservatory or outside on the patio and watch birds any spare time that he had. He could watch them for ages, calling to me if any pretty birds dropped in. We always had bird food on the shopping lists. We also had a very small field mouse that would come through the fence sometimes and manage to get onto one of the bird tables. Ian shouted for me to come and see something one day. I was worried thinking it was a problem, but he whispered to me to watch this table and I saw the mouse. I almost hit him when I saw why he had called me as I was worried by the tone of his voice. That mouse was a great favorite of his and mine and came visiting for food for a long time. Ian always called me if he caught sight of it and we would smile as we would remember the first time and how I almost hit him I was so scared. We laughed together at that little mouse climbing up to the bird house to steal their food.

True to his birth sign Ian loved the water and all creatures in, and around it. We laughed a lot about frogs as we were always bumping into them when walking the dogs. He would rescue them while I would be worried that they would jump onto my feet or get trodden on, or the dogs sniffing them might hurt them. Ian would pick them up so tenderly and put them somewhere safe as he was tender with all people and so he was with creatures.