Category: wildlife

crafts & knitting · garden stuff · wildlife

Christmas tree bears & a new friend

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)11 Comments

 

This year it seems to be proving harder than ever to get organised for Christmas. I had so many things on my to do list for this week but on Monday Toby developed some snuffles, and although he has no other symptoms and isn’t unwell in himself I felt that keeping him home from college was the responsible thing to do because the current situation has us all feeling a little paranoid and extra sensitive to other peoples coughs and sneezes. Anyway, I’m going to be deleting a few of the less essential things from my list and what doesn’t get done by friday will simply have to stay undone 🙂

I have ticked one thing off my list today though and that is to upload a new and updated version of my tiny bear Christmas tree decorations. I first shared this in December 2008 and I thought it could use a make-over and a few new photos. The instructions are the same as they were and are very simple and fairly quick, if a little fiddly, to follow. If you wanted to make some of your own you can download the new copy of the file from here:  download now

And you can see all of the projects that others have made over the years (including lots of sweet adaptations) over on Ravelry.

Lastly, out in the garden I have a new friend. I am still missing Kit the fox and will never forget her frequent visits over the last 2 years, but the antics of this little squirrel definitely put a smile on my face. We’ve had plenty of squirrels in the garden before and they have all been typically skittish and wary, but this little chap is a very friendly character and follows me around the garden. I now have hazelnuts in my pocket whenever I go outside, and he politely takes each one in his little paws before scampering off to stash them somewhere – by now he must have the largest stash in the area!

 

 

 

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 · general stuff · wildlife

snapshots from summer

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)31 Comments

Hello again, it’s been too long. The mid summer months are mostly taken up with family time here and I’ve been busy keeping Toby occupied and helping Amy get organised and moved back in here with us after finishing her degree. Above are a few snapshots of my summer: enjoying the warm sun; peaceful sky watching; finding different garden visitors; watching dramatic storms and grateful to be inside, and delighting in the the lovely Hertfordshire countryside.

There has been also a little time for knitting shoe-horned in too, as you’ll see in the first picture above, and since finishing the dogs pattern back in May I’ve been having fun gradually developing this new ‘little Cotton Rabbits’ character, (hopefully you can tell it’s a Koala). The pattern is all written up but until Toby is settled in his new placement at college I’ll not have the chance to take all the pattern photos. It is coming along nicely though so I’ll keep you posted when it’s ready to share.

With Toby starting at college on Monday I’m a bit anxious and occupied with trying to make that go as smoothly as possible, but I’ll be popping back as soon as the dust settles with knitting news and a celebratory giveaway because today is my 15th anniversary of starting this blog!

See you again soon xx