Hello again, I hope you’re well.
Sorry I’ve not been around – I’ve spent most of January in virtual hibernation and am feeling better for the little holiday from my usual daily routines and self-imposed working conditions 😉
I’m grateful that Toby has been able to return to school (he attends a severe learning difficulty school and they’ve been wonderful at keeping the pupils safe and providing essential routines to underpin the week) and without him to constantly supervise, my January weekdays have been quiet, unhurried and peaceful. There’s a feeling of stillness and sanctuary in our home and I’ve not really wanted to be anywhere else other than right here, which I am very grateful for since we are still in lockdown here in the UK and so cannot go anywhere anyway.
This time of year is usually melancholy, even in the best of years, but it’s feeling more so this year, and like many others I’ve never felt such a need to keep things simple, small and peaceful and to shut out the goings on in the news as much as is possible. Here in my little sanctuary of homeliness I’ve been listening to music, watching films and have given in to a growing and deep sense of nostalgia and bought a copy of The Wind in the Willows. Curling up under a blanket and reading myself into a world of whimsy and delight, far away from the fear and poison-filled news feeds has been a favourite part of my January days, especially on the few days when it has snowed here.
And of course there’s been knitting, though of the gentle, meandering kind rather than the focussed intensity of pattern writing. I’ve started projects, put them to one side and started another: lots and lots of animal heads (mostly knitted in Camarose Snefnug which is a new favourite); some mittens; a pair of socks and some crochet coasters – I pick each project up as the mood takes me and free my mind of any sense of deadline or purpose, and instead just enjoy the process of gentle making.
Toby and I are still enjoying our weekend wood walks, though we’re choosing to walk at dusk as it’s much quieter than earlier in the day when there are lots of famillies making noise and leaving litter and disturbing the peaceful air that we seek there. And I’ve been enjoying walking with my camera in the week, when I can take time to notice and observe the rhythm of nature. Most days I head out early, just after Toby goes off on the school bus and then the thought of breakfast waiting for me when I return makes me walk faster and I’m able to kid myself that this little extra speed balances out the calories in a buttermilk pancake topped with coconut yoghurt, blueberries and maple syrup 🙂
The woods are at their least enchanting at this time of year: the pathways clagged and clumped with mud and their margins tangled with soggy, dead bracken and mulching leaves; the overhead branches brown and bare and stark against the sky or shrouded in mists. There’s little of colour to enliven the scene, but knowing that spring flowers are busy under the earth, no longer dormant, but steadily and surely pushing up shoots from fat underground bulbs is a hopeful thought and there’s comfort in the wheel of the year inexorably turning.
As January draws to a close, I’m starting to focus on pattern writing again and have lots of ideas to shepherd into being. I’ll be back here on a more regular basis too, though long absences do interupt the rythym so I hope you’ll bear with me while I find my blogging feet again.
I hope that you’re doing OK and keeping well, I’ll leave you now with the quote that I’ve written at the start of my 2021 diary in the hope it will guide my thoughts over the coming year:
“If it’s out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind too” Ivan Nuru
little cotton rabbits 
Glad you are back! Your pictures are lovely! I think my blood pressure went down just reading your thoughts about winter. Take care!
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Oh, how my heart jumped when I saw you had a new post today!
As always, your writing helps ground me. I have also began staying away from the news channels and focusing on a more quiet winter routine with my needles and walking boots. We Americans surely need to focus more on such things.
Your beautiful photos only help me in this process.
Hoping all is well and you continue to give yourself these breaks.
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What can I say! Your wonderful photos and beautiful words are an inspiration Julie.
So proud of you.
Take care and loads of love Mum xxxx
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Thank you so much for your words today….you are not only a gifted creator….you are a very gifted writer….thank you for all you do…your influence is felt world wide.
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Gosh that’s a great quote!!
Beautiful images as always Julie and I do love your little basket of heads!! 🙂
Enjoy your peaceful days,
V x
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Love the quote. I quite like the woods in winter but I know what you mean about them being at their least enchanting. I imagine all of the bacteria and fungi breaking things down and making it all nutritious ready for the growing season. I’m so glad that Toby has been able to go back to school and have his routine back. I hope he is enjoying being back. That pancake looks VERY good, I’d be walking faster as well to get back to that. Have a good weekend, CJ xx
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Wow! Your words and photos were so inspiring and comforting to me on the very day I needed to be uplifted!
Thank you so much for sharing your gifts of creativity and artistry! ❤
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Thank you for sharing your lovely post and the gorgeous photography. It is good to see you are all well and the quote was a perfect inspiration for me today.
I hope you are enjoying the quietude of winter.
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I also am reading The Wind in the Willows and loving it! So much more comforting to listen to the good manners of Mole, Rat and Badger than to what we hear in the news. As mentioned by others, I think your talents spill over from your beautiful patterns into your writing and photography. And Spring is coming. Where my son lives the daffodils are already peeking through the snow!
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Nice to hear form you, and know you are well, and have time during the week to relax and do what you love. I live in Lisbon and in an apartment. Somedays I feel very confined. Happilly I have my dog with me. I went to get her December 2019 ( a Parson Russell Terrier, two years already, because the owners where going to live and work abroad). I’m trying to find a new routine for making things at home. I love my home, but I love to go out, too. And the social media and the digital sometime depress me, with all the people wanting to meet through platforms.
” Walker there’s no way ready-made, our way is made walking” ( translation from a spanish poet Antonio Machado)
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Hello:
Love your pictures and glad ya’ll are safe.
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I am glad that you are enjoying time to nourish your soul and feel peace. It is so very important to take care of yourself along with everyone else. I love your basket of heads! I also like to have a few projects going at the same time so that creating doesn’t become a chore or boring in its repetitiousness. Can’t wait to see what you share in the future!
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Love your cup of bunnies.
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That is a lovely quote for these perilous times. There must be tens of millions of people indoors trying to escape from the present and finding comfort in the past. Our Christmas seemed to be rooted in our own childhoods , with purchases of jigsaws and books we’d enjoyed for gifts for our grandchildren and food we’d enjoyed from then too. Aren’t we funny old creatures? As ever, beautiful photographs of your surroundings and very much appreciated. Stay safe and cosy!
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Thank you for this so very beautiful, comforting post!
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Wishing you all the best for 2021, Julie! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
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Maybe it’s just me but I love the woods at this time of year. I think it is a time when they are at their most mysterious, ethereal and magical (especially in the snow). Maybe I’m more of a lord of the rings than wind in the willows sort of person.
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Love the delicate shades of grey, brown, cream and palest blue in your photographs – they seem to reflect the colours of your worktable. Times are hard and I think we all need to take care of ourselves, learn to love ourselves, so that we can find the inner strength to love others too.
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Glad to hear you and your family are well.
Take care
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Another beautiful post Julie — thank you for the quote at the end — how perfect for these times. I’ve been thinking about The Wind in the Willows lately too, I’m sure due to the launch of your beautiful Badger. I have a beautiful old copy from my childhood, I must dig it out. Your photos are gorgeous as always — thank you for sharing! XO
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So good that you have had a slow start to the year….a gift to yourself. Beautiful snowy photos, we don’t have snow in the area where I live, so lovely to see. Great quote, thank you for sharing.
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I’m so glad to read your post and that Toby is able to go to school. It has been such a tough time and I’m like you, I’m keeping things simple and staying far away from the news. I love the quote you shared and am going to need to write that one down to remember.
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Your site just makes me happy. Love your sweet little animals. That bowl of heads just is so sweet.
Sandi Olson from Canada
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