Spring, maybe?

March 4, 2024April 29, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

It’s been so wet here, rain has fallen for weeks on end and many of our familiar pathways through the woods are now well beyond muddy and are completely flooded and impassable. It’s been mild too, we’ve only had a few frosts here this winter and everything now seems to be sprouting and proclaiming the arrival of Spring. Hopefully it’s not too soon and there are no snow storms just around the corner.

The old plum tree in the garden is currently in blossom, though with all the rain it’s been hard to get good pictures. Usually I post with pictures of it’s beautiful frothy white blossom against bright blue skies, but this year it’s rain soaked blossom. It’s still a lovely sight though and has been a magnet for the growing local population of green parakeets, who’ve been enjoying feasting on the unopened flower buds, sometimes 6 of them in the tree at a time.

We’ve also had daily visits from Squidgy the squirrel who now scrabbles at the back door to get our attention each morning and who loves Brazil nuts best of all. Up until a couple of weeks ago Kit was also visiting frequently and always in daylight. Now however it seems as if we have a new friendly fox, who always visits in the dark. It’s so unusual for a wild fox to tolerate being visible to humans, usually as soon as they see or hear you they disappear into the shadows and are gone. But this new fox is much bolder and, like Kit, stays in the garden when we come out of the house, she sits a safe distance away, ready to run if the need arises but looking hopefully for a snack of one of Toby’s cocktail sausages, which I’m more than happy to share with her. Amy has named her Kira and she’s been visiting every day for the last week. I’m not sure if that means Kit has been turfed off her territory again (a while back she disappeared for many months) and we are wondering, because of the bold behaviour, if Kira is actually one of Kit’s cubs that were raised in our garden in 2020. No way to know of course, I’m just delighted to be able to see these beautiful wild creatures up close.

In between planning for Toby (hopefully we’re nearing the final stages of that all now) I have of course been knitting. I’ve been wanting to knit a lamb in spring green colours, I’m so drawn to green as a colour at the moment, but am dithering about what shade to knit in, I find it’s one of the more difficult colours to choose tonal shades in. Hopefully I’ll reach a decision and finish a spring lamb soon.

Hope that you’re finding small joys in your days, J x

countryside · crafts & knitting · in the woods · spring · winter

A little lull

February 12, 2024April 29, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

There’s currently a lull in our planning for Toby and a temporary reprieve from paperwork, so I’m enjoying decompressing a little with regular walks out in the woods.

Although winter still has the countryside in it’s grip, there are signs that a change is coming, and the first flower of the year is now in bloom, the glorious snowdrop. I never feel right picking wildflowers to bring home, they all have an integral part in the wild eco-system, so I take only photos when I’m out and about, but the snowdrops in the little glass jar (clothed in beautifully made crochet by my friend Esther) were garden-grown and gifted to me by my cousin-in-law Nicky and are a beautiful reminder of their wild kin that are carpeting the woods right now.

Inspired by their delicate colouring, I have also enjoyed knitting myself a new hat. It’s the Alpine Bloom hat from Caitlin Hunter of Boyland Knitworks and I’ve used some lovely Hampshire 4ply yarn from The Little Grey Sheep (colourways ‘hellebore’ and ‘naturally’). I don’t often wear green but I’m feeling drawn to it as a colour at the moment, probably because there is such a lack of it in the countryside over winter. Spring is on the way though, and long summer days will be following, all things to look forward to on a dark winter’s evening.

There is a little gentle-paced pattern writing going on here again too, I’ll show you more when it’s a little further along, ’til next time I hope life is treating you kindly, J x

countryside · in the woods · spring · wildlife

The orchard in May

May 25, 2023April 29, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)24 Comments

One of my favourite local nature reserves is a tiny hidden gem. It’s not immediately apparent from the road, so you have to know it’s there to know it’s there, and most of the times that I’ve visited I’ve found myself alone and in perfect and peaceful solitude. It’s an old orchard, with twisted, ancient, lichen-encrusted trees from which the most beautifully delicate apple blossoms sprout, in every shade of soft, blushed pink. It’s abuzz with bees and other pollinators and carpeted with drifts of forget-me-nots. Behind the trees there’s a meadow and then a small patch of woodland, which in the springtime is pungent with the smell of the wild garlic growing abundantly under the greening trees and it is home to a large and complex badger sett.

Come and wander along the meandering green pathways with me, mind your head on the overhanging branches. We’ll walk quietly, listening to the bird song and the drone of the bees and when we’re hungry we’ll stop for a picnic lunch at the little bench by the pond, where we’ll watch the ducks squabble over pond weed and breathe deeply the softly fragrant breeze.

Tewin Orchard, early May 2023