The first signs...and the hill in January

Last week, the snow was thick on the ground...



Ice was a real problem when walking or driving, and Alice was a snow dog....



This week, it's all change! The temperatures are mild and, this morning, the sun was actually warm! So lovely to be out and making the most of it...



We started out in the woods...Alice hates mud, so she picked her way carefully around the edges of the path...



While I squelched right through the middle in my wellies.....



The woods were so beautiful...although the wind was whipping through the trees and chilling the shade...






And then, suddenly, I began to see little emerald green shoots everywhere, poking up through the carpet of leaves...



The beginning of the carpet of bluebells which will be here in a few months time...we stood and contemplated that delicious thought for a few moments...



Before continuing on through the gate and onto the hill...
Life was all around here too, of course...



These are wild juniper berries...soon I'll try and remember to bring some sturdy gloves so that I can brave the thorns and pick some...so good in anything pork- related, or crushed in a gin & tonic...
I've decided that my monthly blog project this year will be to photograph the view from the top of the hill from the same point each time...so here's January!






It will be wonderful to see that huge ploughed field turn from brown to green to gold to brown...and the trees too!
We got home to the churchyard and I remembered that I wanted to show you these beauties as well..



Already fully out and spreading around the foot of the laburnum like stars...



And further on, the joyful aconites...



With their little green ruffs framing them perfectly, I always think they look as though they're smiling! Anyway, their summery colour adds a hopefulness to the gloom of winter...



And with the daffodils pushing their way through the cold earth once more, the spring doesn't feel so very far away....

Hoping that you are seeing green shoots wherever you are this week..real or metaphorical! Xo

Comments

  1. Love your monthly blog project and I look forward to seeing the hills "alive" with seasonal transformation...Alice looks cold in the snow, even though she has her coat on..lol Juniper berries in a G & T..hmmm, may be on the menu here, soon..xoxo

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  2. I have to confess, I already miss the snow.

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  3. I have a glut of snowdrops, that up until now have been completely hidden! I thought I wasn't going to have any this year, should have known better. Mother Nature never lets me down!

    Yes, the weather is so different this week! Rainy nights, sunny days. Though I was wrong on Monday, when fooled into thinking it was light coat & plimsolls weather. By afternoon I was bundled up again for the school run!

    Lovely photos. You certainly have a gorgeous place to go walking in.
    x

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  4. But how can it be so springlike already? Is this normal? I believe Mother Nature is in menopause and thus perpetually confused. Poor Alice in the mud. Do they make Wellies for dogs? Maybe a down coat? I put a fleece coat on Dolly once but she slunk around outside with this look on her face saying "yet another burden for me to bear," so I tossed it. Beautiful hillside view. Always seems so amazing to me that England seems like a giant park and humans have been there so long to ruin it--yet haven't. Happy almost spring!

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  5. What a great idea to photograph the view from the hill each month. I will really look forward to following the seasons as they unfold, and isn't it wonderful to see the sun shining again. Spring really is just around the corner.
    Ann x

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  6. Ahh, I love the view from the top of the hill and sweet little Alice looks adorable in the snow! There are so many signs of spring where you are! Wow! We have a long way to go before we see any signs here. I am looking forward to your monthly photos of the view from the top of the hill. What a great idea! xoxo

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  7. Lovely to see green shoots and beautiful little flowers. The aconites are so sweet and cheerful. Look forward to seeing Spring emerging followed by the other beautiful seasons, as you stand at the top of the hill.
    I'm enjoying using my Cath Kidston card holder:)
    Happy days,
    Betty

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  8. Hi dear Rachel,

    It IS coming! You do know that here in California our hills and fields turn Irish green in the winter. So lovely and lush.

    Alice needs a slender pair of doggie wellies.

    Sending love,

    S

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  9. Dearest Rachel,
    Another Spring in the making.... Ours, like always, is still so far away, but as our blossoms are still quite tucked away, I am content working on many projects inside...

    I am still tucked away, too....but getting ready to bloom!!
    XOXO
    Joann

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