Category: wildlife

crafts & knitting · foxes in my garden · garden stuff · general stuff · wildlife

February blues

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)31 Comments

February might be the shortest month but it always feels to me like time runs much more slowly in February than in any other month. To be honest I’m tired of grey, dreary, overcast days and I’m so looking forward to feeling the days lengthen out and seeing brighter colours emerging in the countryside. I’ll be off on a snowdrop hunt sometime later this week because those delicate little bell shaped flowers are always the first signal of a change in the seasons. In the meantime I’m cosying indoors and knitting February away. For some reason I seem to have been mostly knitting in blue for the last few months. Do you find that you get drawn to a particular colour at a particular time? I was knitting mostly in warm tones of gold, pink and mustard throughout last year but blue seems to be the colour of the moment for me, though I think I might be hitting saturation point as I have been finding myself looking at lots of lovely brown speckley yarns on Etsy.

Anyway, two pairs of socks have been finished, the top ones are Fair Isle Flower Sock by Candice DeWitt knitted mostly in Eden Cottage Hayton ‘tarn’ and below are a pair knitted from Helen Stewart’s Fragment sock pattern in Madeline Tosh twist light yarn ‘well water’ (I’ve added both as projects to ravelry if you wanted links to yarns etc.)

The pair I’m currently making are from the Kia sock pattern by Dawn Henderson. It’s a lovely rhythmic and relaxing pattern, perfect for knitting when you just want something undemanding to occupy your hands and soothe your mind from a busy day, and it’s generously shared for free (though if you use the pattern you could buy Dawn a ko-fi to thank her).

In other news I’ve had some interesting visitors in the garden. With the weather being colder last week, and there being less food out in the countryside towards this end of winter, we’ve had flocks of finches swooping in to the bird feeders (mostly gold and green finches); the squirrel has been doing his best acrobatics in his attempts to loot some of the bounty and we’ve also had a few rather exotic visitors moving into the area from London. This is a ring necked parakeet – and she’s not alone as one morning a flock of 12 or so flew over and I’m now regularly hearing their raucous calls echoing around the neighbourhood. My favourite garden visitor though has been this cheeky fox. I always know when he’s around (usually appearing in the hour before sunset) as the chickens go berserk with squawking and when I look out there he is running up and down outside of the run trying to get in. As soon as I go out he runs down the side of our house and leaps through a narrow gap in the fence to our neighbours garden and there he stays in the hope I’ll go back inside, every now and then popping his head through the gap to check if I’m still there. I’m very happy to have him in come and visit because he’s beautiful and such a character but I’m not sure my chickens are as pleased the have him around!

 

countryside · in the woods · wildlife

A proper autumn walk

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)33 Comments

Well, yesterday looked like being the very best day of the week weather-wise, so I decided to go adventuring in the woods with my camera (and this time with my walking boots too). These woods are very local, being part of Goldingtons nature reserve, only a 5 minute drive away at Hertford Heath. There a network of paths criss-cross mixed wood and heathland and with the sun reaching through the trees to warm earth drenched by heavy rain from the day before, there was a rising mist that held the sunlight in magical golden shafts.

Wandering through the trees I found fungi, insects, butterflies and lots of busy squirrels and noisy jays, both hiding stashes of nuts ready for the colder months ahead. In a field bordering the wood I made friends with 3 sleepy ponies and a little further on a dog called Bella came bounding up to say hello and seemed to want to follow me instead of her owner. I skirted a pond decorated with a carpet of thick green algae and headed deeper into the woods along an ancient path flanked by raised banks from which twisted coppiced hornbeams stretch their tortured trunks. I even found trees with faces. Because of the earlier rain there was a wonderful damp earth, decaying leaf smell and the air was busy with the calls of many small birds. It was a full sensory experience, as all good wood walks should be. The only thing missing was a snack, but that was soon sorted once I was home again.

Today I am knuckling down to lots of seaming and tail attaching for that long overdue bunch of bunnies. I plan to pop back on Friday with news of a little giveaway, so please come and visit again then if you’d like to join in. ‘Til then enjoy your midweek days x

garden stuff · general stuff · wildlife

Long hot summer

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)32 Comments

If you asked me when it last rained here I honestly wouldn’t be able to come up with an answer – certainly it’s been hot and dry for weeks. I’m old enough to remember the summer of 1976, in which the UK baked under endless blue skies and ended up with water shortages, drought and damage to crops and wildlife but being a small child at the time all that sticks in my mind was that we weren’t allowed to fill up the little padding pool in the back garden. We’re a way off from water shortages here at the moment but it has been so very hot and dry that crops, plants and wildlife are being affected.

Happily the robin family that have been nesting in our garage are OK and are enjoying regular deliveries of wax worms through the post (btw if you’re looking for fresh live food for wild birds then I’d not hesitate to recommend The live food warehouse – their service has been brilliant, always next day delivery and free postage on orders over £5 – and this is not a sponsored mention, I’m just so pleased with them, having tried some other suppliers previously and been disappointed). The third batch of chicks have hatched and should fledge sometime next weekend. We think there are at least 3 but I’ve not managed to get a good look yet and don’t want to disturb them. Mum and Dad robin are doing a great job though, having already fledged 9 chicks so far already this season.

Toby has been struggling with the heat – sleeping less well than usual, so we’re all feeling a bit tired and frazzled and hoping for some slightly cooler weather – around 23c would be perfect if the weather gods are reading, oh and a little overnight rain would be good too. Most of my plants are suffering but I’m managing to keep watering with the dregs from the water butt and whatever the chicken doesn’t drink each day. Not that I’m complaining about the weather, it’s been glorious especially early in the morning and during the evening and we’ve been eating all of our meals in the garden. After breakfast and getting Toby off to school I’ve been heading to my favourite spot for morning knitting in Toby’s swing chair. It’s a lovely shady spot until around 11ish when I have to find somewhere else to knit as it’s too hot in the full midday sun.

Talking of knitting, I’m making some progress with knitted things but don’t have much to show yet other than lots of scribblings. I think I’m ready though to knit up samples for photographing and then I should be able to start to put this new pattern I’m working on together.

Well, that’s all my news. I just wanted to pop in here and say hello because it had been so long since my previous post. Hope all is well in your corner of the world and you’re enjoying whatever the seasons are bringing your way. See you soon x