Little Cotton Rabbits

thunder moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July's full moon is known to some as the 'thunder moon' and that has been most appropriate this week.

Overall this year has been really dry and when rain has been forecast it's either completely evaporated before reaching us or we've just had a short shower. This last week has had a different story though and we've had several summer storms that have swept in quickly with dark, ominous clouds bearing torrential rain. Roads have been dramatically turned into rivers and the windows shaken by the loud thunder before the storm has headed off over the horizon leaving a wonderful sunset and the sound of dripping leaves.

It's been good frog weather, which has pleased Toby who finds a hopping frog to be the funniest thing on the planet, though if they hop in his direction and get too close he is liable to panic and run away squealing. The rain has been great for the garden too, everything is green and growing fast with flowers attracting lots of visitors.

This week has also seen a welcome slowing to the pace of life here. The last month has been really busy as we've been taking Amy up and down the country to visit various University open days. She has a year left of A levels before she leaves school and hopes to go on and study English and creative writing, which would be perfect for her as she's always written the most wonderful stories and has a flair with words. Hopefully everything will come together for her during this next year and she'll be starting a new chapter in her own personal story. The departure of a grown child is a strange time for a family though and is contrasting the very different needs of our two children even more than before; one ready to fly the nest and begin a new independent existence and one becoming even more dependant with the ending of the school years. It is what it is though and we are excited for Amy as she starts to make plans and preparations for her future, whilst trying not to dwell too much on how quickly the years fly by.

 

 

 

February, the waiting month

 

 

February always feels like the month where you need the most patience. The shortest day of the year may well be weeks behind us now, but February days can feel as short, dark and cold as it is possible to be and although we all know that Spring is on the way, concrete evidence of that is hard to find. The grey days coupled with lingering sniffles have us feeling a little blue here, even the mood-enhancing effects of cake seemed more short-lived last week and we've all needed a little extra comfort and cosiness.

Unsurprisingly I've been finding mine in knitting and I'd like to show you what I've been working on but I'm not quite ready to reveal, so that will be for another day. I have finished the Snawpaws mittens though and as today had the brightest start that we've seen in weeks I grabbed them and my camera and set off for an early walk (leaving the others to a half-term break lie-in).

We're lucky to have such a good choice of places to walk and today I chose the New River canal and Amwell nature reserve. Though the trees are still bare I've come home reassured that Spring really is just around the corner: there were plenty of catkins and buds; frilly anemone leaves underfoot in the woods and a feeling of renewed intimacy between the resident swans. The male swan spent a good deal of time thrashing the water with his huge wings and putting on quite a display for his mate and it's nice to think that there will be a new clutch of fluffy grey signets hatching out in a few months. A little robin was trilling away in the hedge and flew down to greet me, perching on a fence post just beyond arms reach. He was most amenable to being photographed and offered me several poses to choose from, such a bold and entertaining little chap as he was. It was a lovely morning to be out and I'm glad I made the effort and resisted that tempting lie-in.

I'm hoping to get out later in the week for a snowdrop walk because once they've emerged there's no denying that Spring has begun. 'Til then I'll be keeping Toby entertained and busy and hopefully squeezing in a few rows of knitting here and there. Hope the week ahead is good to you, see you soon.

 

 

 

End of summer

Firstly I want to say a huge Thank You for all of the kind, funny, thoughtful and heartwarming comments on the giveaway post. I have read them all and I really appreciate the time everyone took to comment. As usual I've used a random number generator to pick the winners and in view of the amount of comments I decided to giveaway an extra animal so I've picked three winners. They've each been notified and are in the process of choosing their prizes (you can see who they are in the previous post).

As I've been merrily knitting away for months, making exactly what I want when I've wanted to I've ended up with lots of clothes, heads and feet. Now I have to jigsaw all the pieces together, work out which head goes best with which outfit and make all the missing parts. It's going to take me a little while but I am hoping to have a little batch of animals ready to sell this autumn and all being well another one in the run up to Christmas. That's the plan anyway!

 

 

We're starting to get back into term-time routines here. It always takes a while for Toby to settle in, especially as he has a new classroom and new teaching staff. He's also in the biggest class he's ever had with 11 classmates instead of 6 or 7 so this is challenging for him as he thrives a calm and quiet environment. And he's adapting to the after school clubs that I've signed him up for. As he's almost 15 it seemed like a good idea to expand his horizons, so he now goes to Rock club where they explore lots of contemporary music and Health and well-being club where he experiences relaxation techniques and yoga. On club afternoons I collect him with a handful of custard creams as a little treat and to try a lessen the anxiety he experiences at not coming home on the bus as usual. It also helps me feel a little less guilty for tipping him out of his comfort zone!

Anyway, I must get on with some work so I'm off to get knitting arms and sew seams. Until next time I thought I'd leave you with some of the pictures taken over the school summer break where we celebrated Amy's brilliant GCSE results (3 x A*, 7 x A, 1 X B), tried to get out and about as much as possible and made lots of plum jam :)

See you soon x

 

 

summer productivity

 

 

 

 

 

These long summer days are perfect for ripening fruit and we've indulged in a favourite summer holiday activity of strawberry picking at the local pick-your-own farm. I love that they grow the strawberries in raised troughs, there's no bending down to hunt for the best berries or finding them covered in dusty soil, instead the berries hang plump and delicious from the plants and are easily picked and popped in a punnet. It's made me very happy to be carrying on this tradition with Amy. We had a lovely morning spent together and topped it off with lunch in the farm cafe - I had a twice baked goat cheese souffle on a bed of rocket, pear and pomegranate salad and she enjoyed a mexican pulled pork parcel, delicious!

 

 

 

Back at home summer has brought bounty to my garden and we are enjoying fresh feasts of french beans, broccoli and peas. I like to pick them just before we are ready to eat so they are as fresh as possible. Here's how we like to eat them...

Ingredients:

• French beans / peas / broccoli
• A clove of garlic (or more if you like)
• A couple of handfuls of chopped cherry tomatoes
• A handful of chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme and marjoram are good but I tend to pick whatever looks best at the time)
• A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh ground black pepper

Rinse and lightly steam the beans and peas (or broccoli), then let them cool a little while you saute a clove of garlic in butter over a medium heat until soft. Once the garlic is soft but not browned throw in a couple of handfuls of chopped cherry tomatoes and let them soften while you chop some fresh herbs. Add the herbs to the pan and give everything a good stir, you can add a little more butter at this stage depending on whether you like a thick or a runny sauce. Pop the beans and peas (or broccoli) into a dish and scoop the garlicky, herby tomatoes over the top. Slosh over the olive oil, a twist or two of black pepper and a few more herbs and eat with some crusty bread to mop up the juices with. It makes a delicious summer lunch or a good accompaniment to grilled steak or fish.

 

 

The garden is also being productive in other ways. We currently have a family of newly-fledged robins chirping noisily in the hedge and I'm over the moon that we have blackbirds nesting in the clematis. I've watched them build the nest over a couple of weeks, then the male popping in with tasty treats for the female while she sat incubating the eggs. Last weekend she was out of the nest and we heard the first tiny cheeping noises from inside the deep cover and since then both parents have been busily dashing in and out with beak-fulls of worms. I am a bit worried though that food is a bit scarce as it's been very dry recently, so yesterday I went to the fishing tackle shop and bought a couple of beakers of worms and I'm leaving a few in a little dish in the hope that it helps keep those hungry mouths fed. I'd be so thrilled if these little birds make it to fledging day - the odds are rather stacked against them, especially around here where nests are often decimated by magpies, so it will be wonderful if they do.

 

 

 

There is even a little productive knitting going on here too, though not as much as I'd like a Toby is a demanding chap during the school hols. Still, I'll pop back soon and show you what has been on my needles, 'til then keep well and thanks so much for stopping by x

 

June days

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's been a fair bit of wet and stormy weather around lately but that's been good news for the garden where everything now has that early summer vibrancy and is growing vigorously. In some cases a little to vigorously as my little veg patch is getting swamped by the herb edging. This year I'm growing beetroot, broccoli, kale, french beans, peas, courgettes and lettuce and I'm looking forward to a green feast in another month or so.

Happily we've had a taste of summer too with a few days that have been warm and sunny enough to sit outside. There's something so very calming and relaxing about an afternoon outside with something nice to eat and drink, a little knitting and a good book (Knitlandia by Clara Parkes is a great read if you are a knitter, though my copy has already lost it's pretty dust-jacket to Toby's paper tearing obsession). Hopefully there are more sun-filled summer days to come.

My knitting has been very influenced by the colours of a summer garden too. I was so thrilled when I managed to buy this wonderful skein from Maya at The Wool Barn. Her yarns are exquisitely hand dyed so it's not surprising that they sell out so very quickly. This colour-way is called Rose Garden and I'm knitting a crescent shawl from it, Helen Stewart's Spindrift Shawl. I'm almost finished now and just need to choose between pink and green for the edge, as I fancy a contrasting border.

There have been some happy days working on this in the summer sunshine and it's been lovely to escape some of the stresses of exam time (Amy's GCSE's have spanned most of the last month) with a little gentle and undemanding knitting. We're all looking forward to next Tuesday when Amy has her last exam. She will be so relieved and it will be nice to have a more relaxed atmosphere here. It's been a bit exhausting trying to keep Toby quiet in his middle-of-the-night-awake periods but essential in order to make sure that Amy has had the sleep she needs to do well in her exams.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry that I've not been around much recently, I've not felt like I've had much of interest to say or to share. Life has been full of ordinary family stuff with it's ups and downs and we live day to day, which is the best way to approach life with Toby, but so often the day seems to whizz by without much getting done. I do try to take photos when something interesting presents itself (like this wonderfully tender swan family encountered on a walk a few weeks back), but I seem to have lost my blog voice a little. Hopefully I'm just a little hoarse rather than completely voice-less and I'll be back soon with more words. 'Til then thanks for visiting x