Little Cotton Rabbits

Scenes of Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello! And sorry it's been so long. I just wanted to pop in briefly and say I am still here - it's just that here the school summer break is full on Toby time, and he remains my focus until school starts up again on September 4th. Even so I have had my camera handy and have captured some favourite moments from the last month...

• countryside walking - finding breathtakingly fabulous fields of jewel-bright poppies;
• sky watching - for clouds, techni-colour sunsets, vintage planes and the red kites that have recently moved into the area;
• bug finding - newly emerged ladybirds, hoverflies and swallow-tail moths;
• knitting - mostly socks because they are undemanding, but there are a few more things on my needles that I'll share soon;
• pic-nicing with Amy, revisiting Hatfield house (after our first visit this time last year) for a lovely day together;

Today it's pouring with much needed rain, so Toby and I are having a lazy day - he's watching cbeebies shows on tv and I'm writing this. If the weather is better tomorrow we'll be off on a welly-boot woodland adventure - it's good to get him out and about but overall he's coping pretty well with the lack of routine. I do think though that we'll both be ready for when school starts up again 3 weeks and once he's back into routines I'll have time to call mine again so I'll see you then with some updates on what I've been working on. Hope the rest of August is good for you xxx

 

A time of greening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's amazing how quickly the countryside changes as Spring takes hold. A slight rise in temperature, a sprinkling of spring rain and suddenly there are bright green leaves everywhere. It is a time of blossoming too - Spring brings many beautiful floral colours but my favourites are the frothy white blossoms that so many plants both big and small have at this time of year; hawthorn (May blossom), horse chestnut, wild cherry, apples and pears, white nettle, cow parsley, daisies and ramsons all are looking their beautiful best right now.

I headed to Hobby horse wood near Hertford Heath in search of woodland anemones, but was too late to see them at their best - I shall have to visit earlier next year. But at the orchard nature reserve in nearby Tewin the woods were carpeted with wild garlic and the fruit trees were in full blossom and buzzing with bees and trilling with bird song - I managed to get a picture of the elusive tree-creeper, though his head is out of focus because he never seems to keep still as he spirals up trunks in search of small insects.

Spring is in full glory out there and as I've been wandering and enjoying the white blossoms on my walks, I've been hearing the words of this poem and appreciating its sentiment,

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

 

Now, of my threescore years and ten,

Twenty will not come again,

And take from seventy springs a score,

It only leaves me fifty more.

 

And since to look at things in bloom

Fifty springs are little room,

About the woodlands I will go

To see the cherry hung with snow.

 

A. E. Houseman, A Shropshire Lad 2

 

 

A spring walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been a perfect Spring day here today and as I spent most of last week inside it has been lovely to get out and let the cool March breezes blow away my cobwebs. I started my walk in the small and very pretty village of Westmill in East Hertfordshire. Ambling up the single main street, I passed the medieval church of St Mary the Virgin, its rough flint and stonework contrasting with the softly blushed blossoms of a beautiful old magnolia tree. There are some very pretty cottages in Westmill and all of the gardens were full of daffodils, primroses, chionodoxa and muscari, the best of the early spring flowers.

But the main reason I headed for Westmill is because I know that it's a good place to spot spring lambs and I wasn't disappointed. There were lots of them gamboling about in the spring sunshine and I was laughing out loud at their antics. They seemed to form into little gangs, frisking up and down the field and leaping and bucking with excitement and exuberant energy. A small straw bale seemed to be of particular interest to them and was the stage for lots of 'king of the castle' competitions. 

I've come home to knit up some lambs of my own and I'll pop back soon and show you what else I've been knitting here. 'Til then I hope the change of seasons is bring you pleasure - if you have time please leave me a comment and share what you're enjoying in your little patch of the world at the moment.

 

snowdrop walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's the school half term break this week so Toby and I are sat here at the moment watching Cbeebies together (teletubbies is still one of his absolute favourites). We're still getting over the colds, which seem to be lingering on as sniffles and coughs, so we'll be taking things slow and easy this week. On Sunday Toby went for a day of respite and, since it was a beautiful day and I was feeling the need for some fresh air, I bundled up in warm woollies and set off to the woods for some snowdrop spotting. We have a great choice of different woods carpeted with snowdrops but I think my favourite is in a tiny place called Westmill near Ware which has great clumps of them scattered throughout the wooded banks alongside a quarry. 

It was a peaceful, quiet walk, the woods were full of birdsong and breezes and the dappled sunlight shone to spotlight the beauty of these delicate bell shaped flowers. I'm so grateful to have these small wonders on my doorstep and I came home again feeling calm and refreshed.

Hope you have a good week and that you get the chance to find some small, natural marvels near you. x

 

the wintry woods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's not often that I get up voluntarily at 4am but on Monday morning I'd set my alarm in the hopes of watching the lunar eclipse. Sadly there was thick cloud cover so I rolled back into bed. But yesterday when I got up at my usual 7am there was the beautiful almost-full moon and a bright clear day behind the curtains and so after getting Toby sorted out and off to school I packed my camera and set off for a walk. Winter hasn't really been that cold here yet but there was an icy wind and in the shadowy places the crystals of overnight frost lingered. The landscape at this time of year is skeletal and stark, all angles and exposed structure and there's not much vibrant colour. Instead everything seems muted to grey or brown, the tired and dormant colours of mid-winter. The only greens to be seen are in the thorny tangles of brambles or the lichen and mosses that decorate tree trunks. Even at midday the sun is low and casts long-shanked shadows across the ground, drawing out rich colours from the underfoot leaves and stands of dead bracken, and making me look tall and thin instead of my actual short and dumpy (woo-hoo!)

But, if you look closely, you will find tiny shoots of new growth - small signs that even when things can be perceived as stagnant and lifeless there can be the beginnings of bright, fresh hope x