Scenes of Summer

August 14, 2019November 5, 2025 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

Hello! And sorry it’s been so long. I just wanted to pop in briefly and say I am still here – it’s just that here the school summer break is full on Toby time, and he remains my focus until school starts up again on September 4th. Even so I have had my camera handy and have captured some favourite moments from the last month…

countryside walking – finding breathtakingly fabulous fields of jewel-bright poppies;
sky watching – for clouds, techni-colour sunsets, vintage planes and the red kites that have recently moved into the area;
bug finding – newly emerged ladybirds, hoverflies and swallow-tail moths;
knitting – mostly socks because they are undemanding, but there are a few more things on my needles that I’ll share soon;
pic-nicing with Amy, revisiting Hatfield house (after our first visit this time last year) for a lovely day together;

Today it’s pouring with much needed rain, so Toby and I are having a lazy day – he’s watching cbeebies shows on tv and I’m writing this. If the weather is better tomorrow we’ll be off on a welly-boot woodland adventure – it’s good to get him out and about but overall he’s coping pretty well with the lack of routine. I do think though that we’ll both be ready for when school starts up again 3 weeks and once he’s back into routines I’ll have time to call mine again so I’ll see you then with some updates on what I’ve been working on. Hope the rest of August is good for you xxx

foxes in my garden · garden stuff · general stuff · wildlife

An early morning encounter

July 11, 2019November 5, 2025 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)25 Comments

Some mornings I wake early and can’t get back to sleep. Sometimes I read, sometimes I knit and sometimes I open the blind and watch the sunrise sky. A couple of weeks back I was leaning out of the bedroom window just after the sun had risen and was sleepily daydreaming as I looked around our garden below. A flash of orange caught my eye, peeking out between the tangle of ivy overgrowing the chicken run and I probably frowned in puzzlement, but it soon became clear that the plastic mesh netting that keeps the chickens safely contained in their run makes a rather comfy hammock for a sleepy fox.

She was completely unbothered by me opening the window and taking pictures of her and carried on dozing in the warmth of the early morning sun for 20 minutes before stretching a little, grooming a little and then setting off on an impressive balancing act along the top edge of the run – which is a good 9ft above the path. She stopped for a quick sniff and a wistful glance at the now empty bird box that the blue-tits used to raise their family in, before a lithe leap back to the ground and a silent, sure-footed and typically foxy vanishing act.

She still arrives most evenings and some mornings for snacks. We’ve only caught a brief glimpse of one cub and that was a few weeks ago, and though the mortality rate of urban foxes is pretty high I’m hoping they’re safe somewhere and she’s just keeping them well hidden. I’m still thrilled to have the great privilege of her visits, she’s still completely wild, intently alert and intelligently wary of us but she does seem to appreciate the snacks!

chicken stuff · foxes in my garden · garden stuff · general stuff · wildlife

my foxy friend

May 10, 2019November 5, 2025 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)18 Comments

Earlier in the year I posted a picture of the fox peeking through our garden fence and she’s been a fairly regular garden visitor ever since. When I first got a good look at her she seemed quite sleek and almost plump but more recently has seemed thinner, and thinking perhaps that food might be a bit scarce I’ve been offering her a meal whenever she turns up – she seems particularly fond of leerdammer cheese 🙂

She mostly visits after dark, but for the last few weeks she has been arriving earlier in the evening and sometimes in the early morning too (much to the disgust of the chickens). When she arrives in the garden I open the back door and throw a little food then stand very still and as a result she has come to tolerate me being there, only a few feet away – though always with a watchful and suspicious eye on me as she eats and tensed like a coiled spring ready to run if I make any sudden moves. I’ve no wish to tame or inhibit that wild instinct, it is a well honed survival mechanism and she needs it, but I will offer a small meal now and then to share the privilege of her company.

This morning she visited early and was content for me to take some pictures and while editing them on the computer just now I had a light-bulb moment. Can you see what was spotted in the last blurry picture there? The outline of swollen teats on her belly is a giveaway sign that she’s was fatter and then thinner because she’s just had a litter of cubs!

I’m under no illusion though about why she visits – she’s very clearly focused on the plump and juicy feathered meals strutting up and down my chicken run. But if she’s thrown a little food she graciously leaves them alone for the rest of the day and the chickens remain safe, though unsettled. They only get to forage under supervision now and the rest of the time are safely enclosed in the brilliant chicken run that H built – still predator proof after 10 years. There are definite signs though that the chickens are not happy about the interloper – I’d call this a protest wouldn’t you? …

We also have a lot of small garden birds visiting our little patch at the moment and on occasion larger ones too – I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this heron ungainly balanced on the roof opposite – I think one of my neighbours has a pond that he’s eyeing up. It is such a privilege to have wild creatures as a regular garden visitors and I’m hoping that in a month or so that the fox might bring her little ones along to frolic on the grass – I’ll try and have my camera ready if she does 🙂

Well, I have had a nature filled week and am off to fill my weekend with knitting. Hope you have something nice in store for your weekend x