Tag: nature (page 1 of 1)

The First of the Season

We had our first hoar frost of the season this week. It was beautiful! The grass looked like sugared sticks of spearmint. The ducks were huddled together in the middle of the pond with the heron walking amongst them. Little wrens hopped around the edges where ice had formed and dipped their beaks in and out of the water, slowly drinking.

Today I worked on making my first batch of gingerbread of the season. Just gingerbread rounds, no fancy shapes this time, it won’t be long though before I pull out my special gingerbread lady cookie cutter. Tomorrow I’ll ice them while I work on making the rest of a meal we are putting together for a friend.

I might have snuck a cookie while putting the last batch on the cooling rack. There just wasn’t room for all of them, I figured my eating one was just making space!

The evenings are coming quicker, soon it will start getting dark not long after 3pm. I don’t mind this time of year. I light my candles, I put my music on. I try to absorb as much from each season as I can.

My Mom introduced me to Kyle Pederson a few years ago and this particular album is one I can’t get enough of. I’ve been listening to it non stop today. Below is one of my favourites on the album as well as one of my most favourite carols, Lo, How A Rose.

I hope you’re having a lovely Wednesday wherever you may be today and that you find beauty in the little things.

A Tree

This is one of my favourite trees. I pass it almost every morning on my run. I love watching it change with each season. Against a backdrop of an almost white sky this morning, it looked hauntingly beautiful. I want to climb up on that brick wall and place a row of pumpkins along it. I think the tree would like that.

Leapin’ Lizards!

I’ve lived in England for a long time now and there is one thing that you very rarely, if ever see. In fact, I’ve never seen one here outside of a zoo. I’m talking about SNAKES! I can’t stand snakes. I grew up in an area of the States where you needed to be watchful for venomous snakes and spiders and where cockroaches, or as we call them “Palmetto Bugs”, do in fact fly. So I always pay attention.

Last year, while walking home along the footpath, I heard a noise that you only hear in horror films. The noise where something big is being dragged. I don’t know how I missed this thing, usually I’m constantly looking up and down as I walk the footpaths as there are always little mice who I don’t want to squash and normally dog poop.

But somehow I was looking up and stepped straight over something and it was only when I heard the noise of something huge being dragged through leaves did I turn around and witness the last two feet of a snake disappear down the hill to the train tracks. I kid you not when I say this, but it’s girth was the size of an Amazonian python that had just eaten a village cow.

There was a horrible smell in the air and after a mini panic attack where I didn’t think I could walk, I all but ran home and after a long internet search came across a site that informed me that that horrible almost rancid garlic odour I smelled was from a grass snake. It’s their defensive move. That snake and I crossed paths many times last summer, even when I avoided the footpath. The first time was enough for me, I didn’t need to see it ever again.

So, last night as I walked home, I stopped short as something almost golden in appearance caught my eye. I looked at it and it looked at me and I thought to myself, Mr. Michie is never going to believe me so I better snap a picture and before I could get a good one it took off.

After a few deep breaths, all but running home and lots of research, we came to the conclusion that it was in fact not a snake, but a legless lizard. As their skin is smooth and very shiny. Still, it’s enough for me to warily stare down that footpath.

Here’s to the weekend, I hope yours is legless lizard free! In fact, I hope mine is too, because they look way too much like a snake to me.

{Quote found HERE}