Category: in the woods

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

 

countryside · crafts & knitting · in the woods · spring

Recapping April

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)45 Comments

Hello again and sorry it’s been so long. April was mostly taken up with the school Easter break and so was full on Toby-time for me. We had a good few weeks though, with wood walks featuring heavily. Spring has taken hold here and sprinkled the countryside with blossoms and blooms. Most of the ones pictured here are now finished for the season as they were the first of the spring flowers; blackthorn blossom, wild daffodils, wood anemones and primroses. I’m happy that I managed to see most of them at their best this year, though it did mean getting up at dawn and heading out with my camera while Toby was still sleeping, as he really doesn’t tolerate me stopping to take photos on our joint wood walks.

Since the start of the school term I’ve had another thing keeping me busy, as you’ll see in the last picture 🙂  I’ve been working on this dogs pattern intensely since the beginning of the year and it’s been growing weekly in terms of the number of options for different breeds. I’ll give you full details once it’s finished and ready, but so far I’ve knitted a total of 57 different heads. The pattern is mostly written up and part of it is already in testing, so it won’t be too long before it will be ready to share. ‘Til then I’m off to work on it some more, I hope to be back here a little more regularly now that most of the hard work is done, see you again soon, J x

 

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.