Properly Spring

May 3, 2018April 29, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)52 Comments

Well, it’s been a long time coming but Spring has arrived at last. Although the weather has still seemed a little undecided at times, the countryside around us here has been pressing ahead with new growth and everything is now transformed from dull, twiggy brown to bright acid green. I headed out to the orchard at Tewin earlier this week and there found beauty in many forms; blushed pink pear and apple blossoms; drifts of forget-me-knots shimmering in the breeze and ramsons (wild garlic) pungently carpeting the woodland all around the badger sett. Some of the ancient apple trees are covered in lichens and moss and look almost fossilised, creating an amazing contrast between the boughs and the delicate newly emerging leaves. The whole orchard was alive with birds and bees, everything busy with various stages of raising their next generation and it was the perfect tonic for the positivity problems I seem to have been struggling with lately.

It seems that many of us are feeling a little anxious and stressed so I know I’m not alone – the times we are living in seem to be full of peril, duplicity and deceit. For my own part I’m steering clear of the news for a while – and instead knitting, listening to music and reading more and just trying to appreciate some of the small and simple things. Recently the biggest mood improver for me has been a pair of robins choosing to nest in our garage. The nest has been built on top of some bottles of car wash and oil and we watched it grow, expertly crafted by the female alone while her mate provided her with food to keep up her strength. That was around a month ago and since then 5 or 6 eggs have been laid and at the beginning of last week they hatched. Because I’m a softy I ordered some live meal and wax worms and both the adults now fly down whenever I go out into the garden – they know that I have some tasty treats and it’s such an incredible privilege to be so close to them. Hopefully the chicks will fledge in around a week and will be safe in the garage for the few days before they find their wings so to speak – robin chicks usually leave the nest a few days before they learn to actually fly. I’ll let you know how they get on.

Sorry to be a bit down, I’ll try and be a bit more upbeat when I come back next time. I’ve had some gorgeous new yarn recently and have lots of knitting plans, so that will help!

Hope your days are happy this week x

crafts & knitting · garden stuff · spring · wildlife

blossoming time

March 22, 2018April 29, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)14 Comments

Thank you so very much for all of the kind comments on the previous post, I am still processing the amazing win and happily my wrist seems to be completely back to normal now, so knitting is back on the menu.

After another cold snap bringing snow our way last week things have turned more spring-like here. Not much is flowering in the garden yet (the plans I had for autumn bulb planting remained as an un-ticked line on my to-do list) but the plum tree is, as usual, heralding a change in season. I know I do it every year but I can’t resist taking photos of the blossoms. They are radiant in the morning sun and at night are illuminated by the light of the moon and their delicate beauty is so short-lived that I feel the need to capture their fleeting charm before they are gone for another year.

The birds have been answering the call of their seasonal instincts by jostling for territory, paring up and becoming more vocal. These last few mornings when I’ve gone out to let the chickens out I’ve been greeted by a tuneful robin. He has a twinkle in the black bead of his eye and when he cocks his head to watch me from the tree above it seems like he is asking for some breakfast – and I’m happy to oblige with a handful of dried mealworms and sunflower hearts. I love it when the dawn is full of birdsong, it’s an enchanting start to the day and it will build now until May, when it reaches it’s most choral.

It is nice to be knitting again and although I’m behind a self-imposed schedule I am still working on a new pattern and full steaming ahead with a finished batch of bunnies – though they won’t now be ready in time for Easter. I’ll send out an email to my mailing list when they are ready but it will be a good few weeks yet.

Lastly, but not leastly, I’m very excited to be taking over the instagram feed of Love Knitting tomorrow. If you’re on instagram pop over and say hello – I’m going to spend the day sewing together bunny bits and sharing photos as I go and it would be nice to have your company.

Thanks again for all of the congratulations and compliments on the previous post, I feel truly privileged to be on the receiving end of such kindness.

autism · countryside · garden stuff · general stuff · in the woods · spring

June catch-up

June 5, 2017April 29, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)36 Comments

Well, here we are at the start of the school summer term. Happily it’s a long 7 week one so I’m really hoping to get a lot of things ticked off my to-do list before the summer break starts.

The half term hols went well here with lots of warm sunny days for Toby to enjoy bouncing and bubbles in the garden. I also tried to get him to help with a spot of gardening but it didn’t go to well – too much goes in his mouth for him to be a good gardener! But nevertheless our little patch is looking good with all the herbs, beetroot, kale, rocket, beans and spinach all growing well.

I’m trying wherever possible to involve Toby a bit more in household chores, though it is very difficult for him to grasp the purpose of such tasks. We have one eye on the future here as it is our hope to continue caring for him at home once he leaves school – something that is fast approaching and is a really daunting prospect so we are trying to take small steps now towards a meaningful, enjoyable and busy weekly schedule for him. Over the school break l’ve involved him in pegging out washing on the line which, as long as the items are small, he is getting quite good at, though he has yet to understand the need to stretch things out and to use 2 pegs for some things. We’re not doing quite so well with clearing the table after dinner. He has a very strongly defined sense of order and is good at knowing where things belong; cutlery in the draw, glasses in the cupboard, plates on the shelf etc. but he has yet to understand the concept of clean and dirty and so will tidy away any dirty spoons or plates that he comes across. We are working on the idea that dirty things go in the dishwasher or by the sink and hopefully he will eventually start to understand and be able to do some of these household tasks semi-independently with just some verbal prompts and simple supervision. Later this year he will turn 16 and so begins the transition over to adult support services. There is so much paperwork involved that I already feel exhausted and we’ve not really started, it will be a case of a day at a time and hopefully things will fall into place.

In knitting news I am currently finishing off a small batch of animals so will pop back with an update when they are done. For now I’ll leave you with the pictures I took a month ago (and have been meaning to post ever since) from a visit to a local orchard nature reserve. It’s a wonderful place full of ancient apple trees buzzing with busy bees who are based in the hives on site. There is a flock of very grumpy geese who hiss and posture as you walk past their enclosure and up in the woods there is a large badger sett – I hope to go and visit one evening as there is a viewing hide where you can see them quite clearly from.

Thanks as always for taking the time to visit my blog, I appreciate you stopping by and so enjoy reading your comments x