Category: autumn

autumn · countryside · foxes in my garden · in the woods · wildlife

Early Autumn days

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)23 Comments

 

 

Autumn has arrived here in this little corner of Hertfordshire. Although the leaves are still mostly green, there’s a definite feeling of seasons shifting in the cooler, misty mornings and the lower slant of sunlight and it won’t be long before the leaves colour and fall.

A couple of weeks ago I went out to the orchard. It’s one of my favourite local places and is at it’s best in Spring, when the trees are bedecked with blossom, and in Autumn when fruit decorates every branch, shining out from between the leaves like glowing baubles. I’m always amazed at the wide variety of the humble apple, there are many shades of green from palest milky jade, to bright sunny lime and a range of reds from russet to a deep burgundy. Each one is a thing of beauty and sitting in the middle of this quiet place is a great delight to me and a balm for soothing away any worries to a background hum. I climbed the wooded hill at the back of the orchard where there’s a large badger sett, though they were all safely sleeping underfoot, and then headed back past the bee hives and geese to my car and drove home feeling peaceful and refreshed.

My knitting has taken on autumnal tones too. I’ve been trying to finish off a couple of little bears to giveaway but somehow time is still getting away from me and they still remain unfinished. I’m sure I’ll manage it soon, I’ll keep you posted and show some pictures of what I’m working on in the next post.

In other news, I’m no longer the mum of teenagers. Toby turned 20 yesterday – 20!! I can’t believe he’s now 20! And Amy was 22 at the beginning of the month. Time really does slip away doesn’t it?

And there’s sad news from the garden, it’s now been 5 weeks since we last saw Kit the fox, leading me to the unwelcome conclusion that something has happened to her and she’s no longer with us. I will miss her and treasure forever the memories of her visits and her trust in us, it was a great privilege to know her.

Rest in Peace sweet Kit xx

 

autumn · countryside · in the woods

Autumn walks

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

It’s that time of year again, when the autumn woods are calling me, and this year more than ever I’ve been craving the peace they hold beneath their branches. Throughout October I’ve wandered their pathways many times, ambling along at my own pace, scouting for interesting fungi, listening to the wind in the tops of the tall trees and the song of small birds hidden in the thickets and each time I can feel the accumulated tension seep from my body, down through my boot soles and away into the damp and springy earth below.

At other times of the year these walks would take me 45 minutes or so but in autumn, with so much to see, they can easily take me a couple of hours and inevitably end with me having wet muddy knees. As always I’m stumped by the names of many of these amazing fungi but then appreciating their magical beauty doesn’t require an understanding of their taxonomy. They’re each wonderfully unique and I’m always thrilled to discover and photograph each of them as I make my way through the wood. I hope you enjoy them too and that you’re finding your own small ways to navigate these anxious times that we find ourselves in xx

These pictures were taken across many walks in October 2020 at Broxbourne Common, Cowheath wood, Danemead, Brambles wood and Broad Riding wood.

 

autumn · countryside · general stuff · in the woods · wildlife

An autumn fungi walk

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)27 Comments

Firstly thank you all so very much for your kind and thoughtful comments, emails and direct messages wishing Toby a happy birthday. He had a lovely afternoon full of the simple pleasures that make him happiest; balloons, cake, lego, sensory toys, curry for dinner, salted caramel ice-cream for pudding and a ‘disco’ in the evening – he likes dancing by himself with the lights off and the disco ball on. I popped a couple of pictures of him taken on his birthday at the end of the previous post.

Talking of simple pleasures, I indulged in one of my favourites earlier this week when I took myself off for an autumn wood walk. Because we’ve had a lot of rain here recently I thought that it might be a good year for fungi and I was not disappointed.  I have never seen quite so many different types out in the woods and spent a very happy 3 hours wandering around with my camera and getting wet, muddy knees at Danemead wood, Broxbourne common and Cowheath wood. There’s a mix of habitats there: deciduous woodland with oaks and hornbeams; a large area of pine woods and small areas of heathland and it was very peaceful with just the sounds of birdsong and the breeze ruffling the treetops and persuading the dying leaves from the branches.

I tried to name all the different funghi but have given up because it’s so hard to identify most of them. A few though are easy – like the yellow staghorn which looks like a fairy campfire glowing in the undergrowth; the false deathcap that has a weird almost luminous greenish glow and the iconic fairytale fly agaric with it’s white spotted bright red cap. Each is beautiful in their own unique way, even though some are very poisonous!

There are also some great pictures I’d like to show you of the fox, who is still a regular garden visitor, but I think with all of these woodland pictures I’ve run out of space here today, so I’ll save those for next time. Have a great weekend and if you get time please leave me a comment below and let me know what seasonal delights you’re enjoying in your part of the world.