Little Cotton Rabbits

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

 

November remembered

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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November days seem to have sped past me here, and although I've been busy with lots of different things I don't seem to have much to show for them, though I have managed to snap a few pictures along the way. Autumn has peaked, with all it's golden glory and the trees have seemed particularly spectacular this year. Our November highlights have included misty mornings; sudden storms; golden leaves and golden skies; wood walks; sock and mitten knitting; comfort food casseroles and the first fire lighting of the season.

Yesterday was the start of meteorological winter and it does feel like autumn is now over. Most of the leaves now lay strewn across the lawns, and the winds have turned chilly and persistent. It's a good time for curling up in a cosy spot and knitting warm things and I have been mostly knitting socks and mittens. I was so taken with this 'golden praline' colour that I'm using it in two separate projects and knitting from either end of the skein at the same time, not something to be recommended as it does lead to lots of bad words being uttered at the terrible tangles that develop. The pattern for the socks is 'Lucky me socks' by Pia Kammeborn and the mitten pattern is 'Alfredo gloves' by Suzanne Stallard. The yarns are all The Uncommon Thread tough sock, and I've paired the 'golden praline' with creamy 'manuscript' and dark, moody 'cobble'.

My thoughts are now turning to celebrations of the winter solstice and Christmas and I'm looking forward to having our family all together again when Amy comes back in a couple of weeks. I've felt a little quiet and melancholy of late, so all of the sparkle, warmth and fun of late December and the New Year will be very welcome. I hope to be around here a little more over December days, so hope to see you again soon. Thanks as always for dropping in to visit with me.

 

A proper autumn walk

 

Well, yesterday looked like being the very best day of the week weather-wise, so I decided to go adventuring in the woods with my camera (and this time with my walking boots too). These woods are very local, being part of Goldingtons nature reserve, only a 5 minute drive away at Hertford Heath. There a network of paths criss-cross mixed wood and heathland and with the sun reaching through the trees to warm earth drenched by heavy rain from the day before, there was a rising mist that held the sunlight in magical golden shafts. 

Wandering through the trees I found fungi, insects, butterflies and lots of busy squirrels and noisy jays, both hiding stashes of nuts ready for the colder months ahead. In a field bordering the wood I made friends with 3 sleepy ponies and a little further on a dog called Bella came bounding up to say hello and seemed to want to follow me instead of her owner. I skirted a pond decorated with a carpet of thick green algae and headed deeper into the woods along an ancient path flanked by raised banks from which twisted coppiced hornbeams stretch their tortured trunks. I even found trees with faces. Because of the earlier rain there was a wonderful damp earth, decaying leaf smell and the air was busy with the calls of many small birds. It was a full sensory experience, as all good wood walks should be. The only thing missing was a snack, but that was soon sorted once I was home again.

Today I am knuckling down to lots of seaming and tail attaching for that long overdue bunch of bunnies. I plan to pop back on Friday with news of a little giveaway, so please come and visit again then if you'd like to join in. 'Til then enjoy your midweek days x

cosying on a windy day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our 'new normal' is beginning to feel familiar now, with returns to comfortable routines for the three of us here and Amy settling in well and having a great time away at Uni.

For most of the last week I've been sorting my tangled mess of knitting projects and tidying the house, but on Thursday I headed off for a peaceful autumn walk. The leaves have yet to fully change colour, so the woods are not yet at their most photogenic and I forgot to take my waking boots (yet another indication of my lack of concentration skills right now) so I didn't end up walking as far as planned. I had hoped to find lots of fungi, but it's been so dry that there was very little around and what I did find was shrivelled and sad looking.

Friday was really windy here, so although I had actually remembered to put my walking boots back in the car, I decided to stay home. Happily I was browsing Ravelry and saw Alicia Plummer's newly released ParkTrail sock pattern, so I snuggled up, cast on and enjoyed a little quiet and cosy knitting time in the warm afternoon sunlight shimmering through the wind-whipped trees outside the window. The notes on the yarn I'm using etc. are on my Ravelry project page.

My list of things to do this coming week includes finally finishing off the batch of animals that I started earlier this year. I'll pop back with some pictures in a few days or so and hopefully will have some news of when they'll be available for those interested soon. Maybe we'll have a little giveaway too - it was my 12th blogging anniversary at the beginning of September, so I think a giveaway would be in order.

Hope you're enjoying the weekend where you are. I'm off to knit more rows of my socks - they're going to make great walking socks for more autumn walks. See you soon, J x

 

Properly Spring

 

 

 

Well, it's been a long time coming but Spring has arrived at last. Although the weather has still seemed a little undecided at times, the countryside around us here has been pressing ahead with new growth and everything is now transformed from dull, twiggy brown to bright acid green. I headed out to the orchard at Tewin earlier this week and there found beauty in many forms; blushed pink pear and apple blossoms; drifts of forget-me-knots shimmering in the breeze and ramsons (wild garlic) pungently carpeting the woodland all around the badger sett. Some of the ancient apple trees are covered in lichens and moss and look almost fossilised, creating an amazing contrast between the boughs and the delicate newly emerging leaves. The whole orchard was alive with birds and bees, everything busy with various stages of raising their next generation and it was the perfect tonic for the positivity problems I seem to have been struggling with lately.

It seems that many of us are feeling a little anxious and stressed so I know I'm not alone - the times we are living in seem to be full of peril, duplicity and deceit. For my own part I'm steering clear of the news for a while - and instead knitting, listening to music and reading more and just trying to appreciate some of the small and simple things. Recently the biggest mood improver for me has been a pair of robins choosing to nest in our garage. The nest has been built on top of some bottles of car wash and oil and we watched it grow, expertly crafted by the female alone while her mate provided her with food to keep up her strength. That was around a month ago and since then 5 or 6 eggs have been laid and at the beginning of last week they hatched. Because I'm a softy I ordered some live meal and wax worms and both the adults now fly down whenever I go out into the garden - they know that I have some tasty treats and it's such an incredible privilege to be so close to them. Hopefully the chicks will fledge in around a week and will be safe in the garage for the few days before they find their wings so to speak - robin chicks usually leave the nest a few days before they learn to actually fly. I'll let you know how they get on.

Sorry to be a bit down, I'll try and be a bit more upbeat when I come back next time. I've had some gorgeous new yarn recently and have lots of knitting plans, so that will help!

Hope your days are happy this week x