Firstly thank you so very much for all of the kind messages on the previous post, you really are the best and I am glowing from all the warm comments.
At last it feels like Spring is gathering pace here. Today has been mild and sunny and this cheery bunch of daffs from the market is brightening my table. For the first time this year I've hung the washing outside on the line and while doing so saw the first of the bumblebees buzzing around the newly opened plum blossoms. In the last week the trees and hedgerows have gone from bare and tired looking, to fresh with bright green shoots and frothy with bridal-white blackthorn blossom. The snowdrops have been good this year but are already starting to fade and are being replaced with primroses, anenomes and the first of the daffodils.
The best place locally to see a carpet of snowdrops is in the little churchyard of the St John The Baptist church in Great Amwell which is where I photographed these. It's such a beautiful churchyard set on a wooded hillside and surrounded by the river, canal and water meadows. I like to sit there sometimes as it feels so very peaceful and there are always lots of birds to listen to and watch.
There are also some interesting inhabitants in the graveyard including Harold Abrahams (buried together with his wife) who was the Olympic runner depicted in the film Chariots of Fire and many of the gravestones are beautifully carved and very old. The church is also where Richard Warren married Elizabeth Walker in 1610. Richard was a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620, settled in Plymouth Colony and co-signed the Mayflower Compact. After settling he moved his family from Amwell to Plymouth where he and Elizabeth lived until their deaths (they are both buried at Burial Hill in Plymouth) and they are the ancestors of two U.S. Presidents, Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Some of my favourite walks are around the little village of Great Amwell, it's a quiet and gentle place with lovely countryside…
Amwell village in Hertfordshire, about twentie miles from London, not so obscure in itself (if wee consider eyther aptness of the seate, sweetness of the ayre, delicacy of the soyle, mixture of pleasant hills and fertile valleys, thicke woods and serviceable rivers, both fitly and plentifully enterlaced, all which may yeild both pleasure and profit to the inhabitants) as by reason that it is overtopt by foure towns of note barring it on either side from the eye of observation (Hartford to the west, Stansted to the east, Ware to the north and Hodsdon to the south.
Description of Amwell by Thomas Hassall written in 1631, The Parish Register and Tithing Book of Thomas Hassall of Amwell.
As well as wandering around churchyards getting muddy knees while taking pictures of snowdrops I've also been knitting lots. I'm still working on some new patterns and although progress is slow it is steady and I'm pleased with how things are shaping up. I've also been busy knitting up bunny cosies for Easter. Hopefully this little batch of heads will have some cosy bodies soon and I have an idea of a little pattern adaptation that I'll be back to share with you soon. Til then I'm going to tuck them safely back into my lovely new project bag from The Wool Barn and go and start to think about Toby's tea. See you soon x
little cotton rabbits 
how good to see, spring is really coming! although here in the central Europe the snowdrops are just biginning to bloom there is hope the rest will also start in the certain future. thanks for beautiful pictures.
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What a lovely place and beautiful photos. The church sounds fascinating, I always like to have a nose round an old church. Love the plum blossom, I must go down to the allotment and see if mine is out yet. CJ xx
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I know Julie when the plum blossom appears on your blog that its definitely spring. 🙂
Do you know I love old churchyards too, you are right, they are very peaceful.
V x
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Thank you for your lovely post. My husband’s family is descended from Richard Warren, so neat to see the church!
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Your nature pictures are so beautiful. Thanks for sharing them. I know we are for a treat when I see animal heads in a pile. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. I wish I had time to get back to knitting your animals, I must make myself.
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I love this old cemetery; the headstones are beautiful. Thank you for the bit of history and the photos. Love seeing how you work with making heads, ears, arms, legs, bodies, etc. Looking forward to see what you will come up with next.
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Such a joy to see the beauty through your lens and artist eyes. Those little bunny heads are adorable and I can’t wait to see the newest patterns. I check everyday.
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Lovely photos as always Julie, it is lovely where you live. I too can’t wait for your new patterns! Sue x
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Hi Julie, Your post is a wonderful start of the day, thanks a lot!
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Beautiful photos. You are inspiring!
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Wonderful photos as always – you are so very talented
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Richard Warren and Elizabeth Walker are my 10th great grandparents! it is nice to see where they came from. I enjoy reading your blog and I have knitted some of your wonderful knitted critters, which my grandchildren do enjoy. Thank you for writing a beautiful blog.
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I love reading your blog, please! Keep writting!
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Lovely post, as always. Thank you for sharing your life and loves with us.
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Your photos are glorious. I have picture envy! Living just south of Plymouth MA we are expecting below freezing temps this weekend and even a possibility of snow. There you are with lovely snowdrops, greenery and sunshine…….. aaaaahhh…
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Such lovely photos as always!!
I have a real fondness for snowdrops, they are just lovely.
Looking forward to hearing about the pattern adaptation as your patterns are fabulous.
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Such beautiful images of spring….a welcome sight. I’m very curious to know what your new pattern will be.
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Here, in Lisbon (Portugal) Spring is coming, too. But only with lots of warm sun! Here, where I live, lots of apartments but only one neighbour in an apartment in front of mine are always beautiful flowers blossoming. As I live in an old neighbourhood, some of the apartments on the ground floor do have gardens, but ohhh!, they do not have flowering gardens…
I love to receive your new posts: always such beautiful posts, with lovely photos, stories and your handknitting.
Have a nice day. And much more lovely days.
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Your photos are so lovely. I, too, recently took photos in an old graveyard in town. There is something so peaceful about them. Enjoy the rest of your week. xo
~ Wendy
http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
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I now have a yearning to see Great Amwell… And maybe catch up with you again before too long Julie xx
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Beautiful photos as always. You live in a lovely part of the country. I’m so intrigued about the new patterns you’ve mentioned a few times – I look forward to finding out more. The little bunnies are a delight as usual, they never fail to put a smile on my face.
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Lovely! Richard and Elizabeth are my 12th-great-grandparents, twice over (I descend from two of their daughters).
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Beautiful flower photos. Here in New England it is a beautiful day today but I hear snow is on the way for later this week. Looking forward to your new pattterns. Thank you for sharing your photos.
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Your descriptions and lovely photos make me feel like I’m there. And I wish I were! I love England and would love to spend more time there. I’ve read your blog for years and always look forward to your newest installment. Your knitting is superlative and I have one of your bunnies named Cooper. Keep blogging, Julie.
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Your photos are so beautiful. They make me sigh. I love knowing spring has come to some part of the world. It is still very much winter in the Midwestern part of the United States. You give me hope for brighter things to come!
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It is lovely to read the history you tell us… Where I live (precisely my garden)everything is always late, the daffodils have only just started, and the trees are completely bare. Your photos of the snowdrops in the old churchyard are gorgeous, and your little animals in progress make me smile! x Anne
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Absolutely beautiful photos! I live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and we are still in winter’s grip.
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I came across your blog some time ago, and I love the little rabbits. But lately my husband is your biggest fan–he loves the photos, especially the swans and the spring bulbs. Our snowdrops are just past their prime, and the early daffodils are open now. We live in Oregon, so spring is coming, but slowly this year. It snowed last weekend! Thank you for your beautiful photos of a very beautiful area!
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I always enjoy reading your lovely blog. Your photographs always so beautiful and of course I love to see what you are knitting. Most of all it is a place to visit when I am feeling a little frazzled from life’s ups and downs and I need a little peace. Thank you.
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Here in the Midwest US (southern Michigan), we still have snow on the ground (5″ fell yesterday), and the teensy little snowdrop shoots are just starting to stick their necks above ground. I love seeing your photos from the churchyard. It makes me homesick for the days when I lived in Cambridge. Can’t wait for any new pattern ideas you come up with. I am frantically knitting little bunnies and kitties and bears and elephants for my great nieces and great nephew. I love your patterns. Thank you!
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Hi Julie
I am a long time blogger and a very long time knitter. But my knitting blog was created only last week. After creating it I did some internet search for other knitting blogs, and then it didn´t take me long to find yours. I love it and look forward to coming back.
Britt-Arnhild in Norway
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Your photographs of flowers make me believe that spring will arrive on my doorstep one day…..
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Your beautiful spring photos are encouraging as I wait for 24″ of snow to melt and for spring to arrive here. Thank you for your inspirational work, patterns, and blog. Each blog is a mini vacation and I appreciate how you share your family life and creativity.
Christine CT, USA
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Thank you Julie for coming into my life.I love your stories and the snowdrops are beautiful.I am knitting one of your rabbits at the moment,and she is looking lovely.When you say a tea cosy pattern,is that for a teapot? I too appreciate the sharing of your family life and your wandering so in the churchyard.So many stories to tell from the old church’s. Thank you. Ann Craig. New Zealand.
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Lovely to see that you are creating and keeping up with new ideas so that we have lots to look forward too, I for one am so happy to hear that. Your pictures are delightful and I feel like they were chosen just for me, as I am a ways away in Canada and missing the traditional signs of a British spring.
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