Little Cotton Rabbits

snowdrop spotting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're very lucky where we live because although we're in the middle of suburbia, we have very easy access to beautiful countryside. This time of year is snowdrop spotting time and it's a delight to see carpets of them spread out beneath the bare-branched trees, the first cheerful herald of spring. One of the best places locally for them is around Westmill near Ware, which isn't even a village but just a small handful of houses clustered around an old mill. The little path that leads past the houses and up alongside a quarry has great drifts of flowers on either side. I got cold muddy knees yesterday afternoon but it was worth it to get right down amongst them, close enough to see the dew still sparkling on their stems and their little bells silently shivering in the cold breeze.

The old mill straddles the River Rib and parts of the building still standing are said to date back to Elizabethan times, though there has been a mill on the site for at least 1,000 years. It's a beautiful old building with wonderfully crumbly brick walls around the gardens and lovely views out over the water meadows. There's a coat of arms in the middle of the front wall which appears to be the lesser coat of arms for the city of London, odd considering that we're 20 miles from there and I wonder what the significance is but suspect that the facts have been lost to time. It is fascinating to live in a landscape that has so much visible history, Ware in particular as it is one of the longest continuously inhabited towns in Europe, so there's a lot to discover.

The flowering of the snowdrops signals that spring is on the way (although winter has yet to loosen her frosty grip), which is a nice thought on a cold, dark and rainy early February evening. At this time of year I can't help daydreaming of long-off summer afternoons with knitting in the garden and the snowdrops are a nice marker that we're on our way back to those.

Be back soon with some knitty news, see you then x

 

Autumn in Panshanger Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week was the school half term break so most of my time was taken up with keeping Toby out of mischief. I did have a free day on the Wednesday though (when he went for respite care) and by happy coincidence this was the best day of the week weather-wise, so I packed up my backpack.

There is no shortage of places to choose from within a 15 minute drive and I count myself very lucky to be able to transport myself with relative ease to the woods, the canal, the lakes or the hills as the mood takes me. This time I headed to Panshanger Park. From the 1700s this parkland formed the grounds of a grand stately home but after the death of the last member of the Cowper family in the 1950's the main house was demolished and the estate divided up and sold by auction. Today the park is owned by Tarmac who extract minerals at one end of it. As each mining site is exhausted they have been returning the land to nature, so at the Hertford end of the park there is now a wonderful 400 hectare nature reserve crisscrossed by paths from which you can regularly see many species of ducks, dragonflies and wild birds including the occasional kingfisher and even osprey at the right time of year.

I walked through the fields of grazing sheep (who seemed quite curious about me photographing them), down the track towards the lake cottage and along the Mimram river for a bit before heading uphill to the site where the house once stood. At the hilltop there's a bench with a wonderful view designed by Humphrey Repton so I sat to eat my snack. From there I headed into the woods until the eerie sight of crumbling stonework appeared through the gaps between trees. The Orangery is all that remains of the original house - though if you scrabble about in the woods you can see the remains of walls and terraces which are being slowly reclaimed by nature - it's a bit like being on the set of a Lord of The Rings film. Following the path past the Orangery leads to a ring of iron railings encircling a gigantic oak tree...

"The park contains the largest maiden (not pollarded) oak in the country, with a circumference of 7.6 metres. It is believed to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth I. Acorns from the tree have been used as seedlings for notable oaks in other parts of the country, such as the Prince Consort Oak in the Forest of Dean. Winston Churchill planted a sapling from the tree in the park and the tree can still be seen in the grounds." (source Wikipedia)

I'm not sure that the pictures quite convey how massive this ancient oak is without anything for scale in the foreground but it is quite awe inspiring. I sat there for a while, quietly. All around I could hear small birds twittering about their business in the undergrowth. The squirrels were busy too with their store-cupboarding. There is a feeling of magic there (though that might be just me channelling my childhood love of reading The Tree That Sat Down and The Faraway Tree) and I look forward to returning through the changing seasons and visiting the peacefully enduring old oak.

I walked the path back to the car beneath dramatic skies. I've realised recently that late afternoon and that last golden hour before sunset is my favourite time of day and it really soothes my soul and dissolves stresses to be wandering about then. Even the tedious traffic jams to get back through rush-hour Hertford couldn't dent my sense of well-being.

Although autumn is undeniably here with cooler, breezier days and an abundance of berries and hips in the hedgerows, the leaves of many trees have yet to reach their full autumn glory, so I'm hoping for another wood walk later this week before leaf fall is complete.

See you soon and thanks as always for visiting x

 

October ramblings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of last week I went walking in a local nature reserve at Broxbourne woods where I was delighted to come across a slow worm sunbathing on the path. Although he looks very snake-like and does have a forked tongue he is actually a legless lizard (apparently his ability to blink and shed his tail make him not a snake). He was so blissed out in the patch of sunlight that I had to step over him and even though I took lots of photos of him he didn't seem bothered by me. He'll probably be starting his winter hibernation in the next month so I expect he's extra bold on these last sunny, warm afternoons while he tops up his tan!

I also met a group of lovely ladies. These beautiful Red Poll cattle have been introduced to the pasture in a habitat conservation project involving legacy grazing. The Red Poll breed is native to the East of England and they certainly looked very at home and were completely relaxed about me walking through their field.

Whilst out and about I've been enjoying the cosy warmth of the void shawl (pattern and yarn details in link on my Ravelry project page). The yarn is really soft and comfortable to wear and the shawl is pretty flexible, looped twice or three times depending on how cold the breeze is. The pom-poms are still in place despite Toby's attentions and I'm hoping he'll be able to help me to make him some pom-poms of his own to play with as a distraction from playing with mine.

Back at home I've been finishing off patterns, starting new socks and getting winter woollies out of storage ready for wearing. I've also been enjoying the October issue 79 of Knit Now magazine which has an interview with me as part of the Knitter of the year awards that I won a prize in earlier in the year. The awards nominations for 2017 have just opened so if you'd like to nominate someone then head over to their page for more details.

Well, I'm off to continue with pattern writing, won't be long now I promise - hopefully I'll be back with news in the next post, til then keep well - there seem to be coughs and colds everywhere at the moment so fingers crossed you avoid them x

 

 

change afoot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's been a change in the air this week. Autumn is breezing in on the wind, loosening the leaves from the trees and whistling through any windows left open. I've changed the duvets from lightweight summer throws to cosier covers to snuggle under and whilst it's not yet been cool enough to warrant lighting the fire I've been stacking logs in the basket ready because the change is noticeably distinct. 

The cooler weather is the perfect excuse to carry on with warm-winter-woollie knitting and my void shawl is all finished. It's the perfect big snuggly wrap to keep out those autumn breezes. I had a tiny bit of yarn left over and couldn't resist making a few pom-poms for the ends, I'm really pleased I did as they are a sweet finishing touch, though I'm not sure how long they'll stay attached as Toby seems quite fascinated with them.

The book I mentioned in the previous post 'A modern way to eat'  by Anna Jones has been provding me with lots of lovely new recipes to try, but I'm finding I'm not a fan of them all. I tried really hard to like her recipe for the wonderful sounding Golden Tumeric milk which is made with almond milk, tumeric, cardamom and honey but I failed dismally. One sip was enough for me I'm afraid! It's a pretty concoction though with a lovely warm colour that goes well with the socks I'm working on at the moment. They're knitted from the pattern BFF socks by Cookie A in Madelinetosh Twist light yarn in 'harvest' with contrasting heels, toes and ribbing top in 'paper', my project notes are here.

On my walks I've been noticing lots of mushrooms and toadstools, it's their season and they are everywhere at the moment. I hope to go exploring and find more next week, family life has been busy and chaotic so I've not been out adventuring as much as I had hoped for but Autumn is still to reach her best here so there's time yet.

I hope to be back more frequently very soon and to have news on new patterns and the giveaway I'm planning. Til then keep well xx

 

June catch-up

 

 

Well, here we are at the start of the school summer term. Happily it's a long 7 week one so I'm really hoping to get a lot of things ticked off my to-do list before the summer break starts.

The half term hols went well here with lots of warm sunny days for Toby to enjoy bouncing and bubbles in the garden. I also tried to get him to help with a spot of gardening but it didn't go to well - too much goes in his mouth for him to be a good gardener! But nevertheless our little patch is looking good with all the herbs, beetroot, kale, rocket, beans and spinach all growing well.

 

 

I'm trying wherever possible to involve Toby a bit more in household chores, though it is very difficult for him to grasp the purpose of such tasks. We have one eye on the future here as it is our hope to continue caring for him at home once he leaves school - something that is fast approaching and is a really daunting prospect so we are trying to take small steps now towards a meaningful, enjoyable and busy weekly schedule for him. Over the school break l've involved him in pegging out washing on the line which, as long as the items are small, he is getting quite good at, though he has yet to understand the need to stretch things out and to use 2 pegs for some things. We're not doing quite so well with clearing the table after dinner. He has a very strongly defined sense of order and is good at knowing where things belong; cutlery in the draw, glasses in the cupboard, plates on the shelf etc. but he has yet to understand the concept of clean and dirty and so will tidy away any dirty spoons or plates that he comes across. We are working on the idea that dirty things go in the dishwasher or by the sink and hopefully he will eventually start to understand and be able to do some of these household tasks semi-independently with just some verbal prompts and simple supervision. Later this year he will turn 16 and so begins the transition over to adult support services. There is so much paperwork involved that I already feel exhausted and we've not really started, it will be a case of a day at a time and hopefully things will fall into place.

In knitting news I am currently finishing off a small batch of animals so will pop back with an update when they are done. For now I'll leave you with the pictures I took a month ago (and have been meaning to post ever since) from a visit to a local orchard nature reserve. It's a wonderful place full of ancient apple trees buzzing with busy bees who are based in the hives on site. There is a flock of very grumpy geese who hiss and posture as you walk past their enclosure and up in the woods there is a large badger sett - I hope to go and visit one evening as there is a viewing hide where you can see them quite clearly from. 

Thanks as always for taking the time to visit my blog, I appreciate you stopping by and so enjoy reading your comments x

 

 

Tewin Orchard, Early May 2017

 

bluebell time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I didn't grow up in the area where we now live, I feel that I've got to know it well over the last 20 years. I've enjoyed that process and it's one that continues as there are still so many new places to explore. One of the nicest things about getting to know an area well is discovering it's seasonal secrets. This local wood for instance is unremarkable for most of the year but for a few weeks every April it is transformed into a magical wonderland, a perfect habitat to begin believing in fairies, elves and unicorns.

I know I share pictures like these most years but I couldn't resist doing so again. It's such a beautiful sight and there's an incredible perfume too, though sadly I have no way to share that here.

Next week I'm looking forward to the next spring event in my local calendar, which will be the apple trees blossoming at an ancient orchard. I'll pop back then with some pictures if I've got the timing right.

Thanks as always for visiting with me here and sorry I've been absent a lot recently. I've still been deep in pattern writing and am also working on a tutorial to share, so there will be lots coming up over the next month. For now I'm off to do more editing and finish testing out the last few bits and pieces, but I'll be back as soon as I have some news. Until then I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from our school Easter break - all of our neighbours know it's spring again when Toby resumes bouncing as they can hear his squeals of joy and see the clouds of bubbles drifting over the fence :)