The beginning of April was unseasonably dry and sunny here and it's been lovely to feel the warmth of the sun again, but around the middle of the month the weather changed, ushering in the abrupt rain showers that April is best known for, something much appreciated by the garden snails. And this combination of warmth, sunshine and showers has brought about such a dramatic change in the countryside. Just a couple of weeks ago all was still bare, twiggy and brown out in the woods, but now everything has burst into leaf and flower, the woodland air is tinged with green and delicately scented, and birdsong weaves its way between the trunks.
We do the same 5 walks each week with Toby and it’s been so interesting to see the weekly change in the environment. It has really accelerated enormously this month, and the rapid spring growth in some plants is quite amazing. The first bracken fronds, nowhere to be seen just a week ago, are now almost a foot tall. And suddenly every verge and path margin is burgeoning green with all of the plants that would be called weeds if they were to spring up in a garden; nettles, dandelions, cleavers and clover.
One of my favourite spring flowers, the wood anemone, has carpeted a small wood for the early part of this month. The small flowers appear bell-like in overcast or wet weather and at night, but when the sun is shining they open fully and turn their faces towards the light, tracking it throughout the day. Apparently they are a marker of ancient woodland and it can take 100 years for them to spread just 6 feet, so this particular woodland with great drifts of them sprinkled throughout is precious and a marvellous sight. And it's about to be superseded by the carpets of bluebells that are just emerging, they are the crowning glory of spring out in the woods.
Back at home Katsue has been here most days, she's picked up an injury just above her tail (the opposite side to her broken foot) but it's healing well and she is no longer pregnant so whether the cubs are alive is not yet known. She enjoys curling up for a nap after her snack and seems in no hurry to leave, but this does not mean that anything has happened to the cubs as foxes often share a den with another vixen and do pool litters to give each other some time off.
There has been a lot of knitting going on. Sock knitting continues to be a relaxing pastime when my brain needs a rest and I've enjoyed using some beautiful hand-dyed yarns in spring colours from The Knitting Shed to knit some very simple 'don't-need-to-think' socks. But most of my available time is being spent on pattern writing. The 7 inch animals that I was working on are put aside for now and instead I'm continuing work on my new animal design, which is coming together slowly. I can't show you progress yet as there are still wrinkles to be worked out, but hopefully next time I'll be able to give you a hint :)
'Til then keep well, and continue seeking small joys wherever you can find them, hopefully they appear for you when needed, J x
PS: I filmed a little of one of our walks at Panshanger, Toby was having fun and scaring me a little with his climbing antics too!
Nature notes from April:
- Week 1: Blackthorn is just beginning to blossom, the bright white buds opening to small star-like flowers. We spotted 9 butterflies on one particularly sunny walk; orange tips, brimstones, comas and peacocks all dancing delightfully along the woodland rides at Balls wood.
- Week 2: The blackthorn is at peak this week, with field boundary hedgerows enveloped in clouds of white blossom and buzzing with bees. Wood anemones are suddenly in flower, when I looked for them last week all I saw was the first leaves emerging from the leaf litter, but this week they are in full glory.
- Week 3: Great tits have begun nesting in our garden birdbox and I've seen the first robin chick of this year, perched on the fence. The bluebells are in flower, not yet open but small blue spires full of promise.
- Week 4: The blackthorn blossom is over now but hawthorn is taking it's place. They have such similar flowers but whereas blackthorn blossoms on bare boughs hawthorn comes into leaf before its flowers open. Bluebells are now gloriously opening and the scent on our woodland walks is wonderful.