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Category Archives: Countryside
Half term
We’re deep in the throes of half term. We’ve made dolly peg pirates, baked gingerbread men, made a hanging mobile of the solar system, planted out tomatoes, and spent copious amounts of time at the splash zone (lots of movement-triggered … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Family and friends, Growing things, Illustration
Tagged Devon County Show, devon rubies, dolly pegs, farriers, gingerbread men, half term, horse shoeing, illustration, mobile, pirates, sheep shearing, solar system, splash zone, teething, tomatoes
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May
I’ve been delving into my seasonal reading again this month. Steve Roud’s chapter on May in his book The English Year, is a riot of flower strewn celebrations. Roud says that traditionally May would have rivalled Christmas in the scale … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Illustration
Tagged buttercups, cheese-rolling, cow parsley, cuckoos, ducking day, elms, hedgerows, hobby horses, illustration, jack-by-the-hedge, may, May Day, maypoles, nightingales, ragged robin, reading, seasonal, seasonality, seasons, Stephen Moss, steve roud, stitchwort, the english year, thresholds, Wild Hares and Hummingbirds
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Monkey!
This weekend Little Owl and I had a fantastic treat. We drove out to a nearby village and crammed into the pretty hall to see a puppet show version of the Chinese folk tale Monkey. This was an adaptation of … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside
Tagged arts, children, china, chinese, communities, devon, folk tale, Monkey, puppet show, PuppetCraft, puppets, rural, theatre, Villages in Action
1 Comment
March
It is the beginning of a new month so I turn to my seasonal reading again. In his book The English Year, Steve Roud’s chapter on March is preoccupied with the weather. March “comes in like a lion and out … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Illustration, Wildlife
Tagged ash buds, birds, borrowed days, dunk, hares, illustration, light, mad march hares, march, migration, migratory restlessness, Mothering Sunday, spring, St Chad's Day, St David's Day, St Patrick's Day, St Winneral's Day, Stephen Moss, steve roud, sunrise, swallows, the english year, vernal equinox, warmth, Wild Hares and Hummingbirds, winter, zugunruhe
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Kingfisher sighting
Last week the most amazing thing happened. Finch and I were out for a frosty walk in the nature reserve opposite our house and we saw a kingfisher! It was bright blue against the dark wet vegetation. It flashed past … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Illustration
Tagged frosty, illustration, kingfisher, scotland, walk, winter
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The English Year
I have added a second book to my monthly readings to help me keep my New Year’s resolution of getting back to simplicity and seasonality. This book is called The English Year and is by Steve Roud. The English Year … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Illustration
Tagged bad wine, benedictine, customs, festivals, illustration, kissing friday, oxford, pull lug day, seasonality, sister, st scholastic's day, steve roud, students, the english year, traditions
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Wild Hares and Hummingbirds
The sparrows have found our feeders! Granted it took minus temperatures for them to venture into our exposed garden but it’s a start. The hills behind our house were thick with snow this weekend. The trees wore strips of snow … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Wildlife
Tagged bird feeders, birds, blackthorn, children, church yards, gilbert white, gold crest, great tit, illustration, January, landscape, Mark, nature, Random House, seasonality, simplicity, skein, small birds, snow, Somerset, somerset levels, sparrows, Stephen Moss, The Natural History of Selbourne, Wild Hares and Hummingbirds, winter, yews
2 Comments
Mental images
I’ve returned home from our festive travels with so many beautiful mental images. There was the Narnian lamppost in the churchyard on Christmas Eve, whose frosty halo lit my mum and I through the starlight night to Midnight Mass, the … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Family and friends, Illustration
Tagged aeroplane, beech, Call the Midwife, christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas special, Exeter airport, fog, holly, lamppost, Midnight Mass, mr tumnus, narnia, new baby, new year's resolutions, rope swing
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Inheriting
In a kind of lovely postscript to my last post, I received a brilliant email. I’ll quote a little bit of it: “…just a quick note to say we moved into your old house a month ago and adore your … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Growing things, Wildlife
Tagged caring, countryside, email, farm, garden, gardening, plants, vegetables
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Five doors down
We’re struggling for birdlife in our garden. I’d started off with great hope. We had a number of visitors over the summer. Granted they were of the townie variety but we’re not fussy. Garden birds are so companionable and we … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Wildlife
Tagged bird feeders, clematis montana, fat balls, garden birds, gardening, hedge sparrows, illustration, magpie, school run, wildlife
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