Apple Wood Spoon and Spatula. Happy Christmas!

We took down a poorly Apple tree last week and I carved a spoon from the trunk and Leo carved a spatula. It was an obsessive pleasure for a whole day! LOVED IT! 

hen xx

Christmas tree! Yule yule yule!

It's been raining horribly today so I've spent some time keeping dry and making our christmas tree! It's a simple affair, a bunch of steamed willow with some ivy I foraged yesterday and favourite christmas decorations I've collected over the years from charity shops or made by friends. 

Soo.. I started by getting an old stick of yew and trapping it in a basket with some heavy stones. I made a willow ring to help the whips flow out at the bottom.

Then I bunched a good wodge of steamed willow withies together and tied them at the top to the yew stick. It's then a bit of a fiddle, requiring lots of patience, to get the base of the rods to be at a reasonably similar height from the floor, by pulling the tips up or pushing the ends up.

I've now covered the trees in bits n bobs and surrounded it with the beeeyutiful christmas baubles I found in a charity shop years ago. On the tree is a couple of needle felted holly leaves with berries that I   made a while ago, a gorgeous copper bird made by the beautiful Jackie Stewart and a long string of gold paper stars I bought from Amnesty International yonks ago. The glowing pagan star at the top of the tree my Mum bought me and has a candle in (elf n safety..), and obviously most importantly of all there's the fairy on the top left of the picture. I made her about 12 years ago now and it's the best of days when she makes her appearance!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!


hen xx

A Winter Solstice I will Never Forget. Such Beauty. Oh.. and Christmas too...

These pictures are a mix of Winter Solstice and Christmas day photographs. 

You can click them to make them bigger. 

The winter solstice sunrise.With the Moon setting over the yurt and shelter. I was weighed down with buckets of chicken feed, straw and hay. I froze (literally) to the spot though to witness this breathtaking scene.

After feeding the animals I went for a wander around the land. The snow is cold and hard to walk on but there's no arguing the magical quality of it. This years winter solstice was made extra special with the full moon and snow.

I only found bird tracks in the snow on the banks of the river. I felt electric walking along here.

Amazing ice sculptures on the branches that stretch across the river & the roots that creep out from the bank.

The light and contrast the snow gives to everything is particularly stunning when trees are involved!

The yurt was toasty warm inside.  You can see how well the wool felt lining keeps the heat in by the fact the roof has lots of snow on it.

Our slopey fields come into their own for sledging! I've got to work on not "teeeheeee"- ing all the way down... it's humiliating...

Cooking our christmas dinner in the dutch oven on the open fire. I cooked roasties in the cast iron pot on the chimenea. That didn't work so well! Still had lots of crispy bits, not attached to the pots though! Will definitely need to get our clay oven built as soon as possible!  I'm only happy if I can have roasties & home baked bread!

Stunning view over to South Wales. Just stunning... did I say stunniiiiiiiing...!!??

Winter solstice sunset also blew my tiny mind. I need more descriptive words for "breathtaking"!

Then the Full Moon rose. It was the biggest Moon I've ever seen.The way it caught the snow making the crystals sparkle like diamonds brought tears to my eyes. 

Our roasted chicken. The dutch oven did us proud :)

Hope you all had a beauty filled day!

Much love,

hen

xx

Christmas on the Land! Merry Christmas! :)

Hope you had a lovely christmas!

We spent our christmas on the land in the freezing weather and it was amazing! It meant that we had to build a proper shelter that could take a woodburner or we would have frozen. So we did and here it is...

This style of building is called a 'bender'. It's basically a load of bendy sticks, in this case hazel, woven into a strong structure that can take a waterproof cover. We used 6m x 6m canvas, made for us by Atwoolls, to cover an area of 14' diameter by 6.5' high.

After coppicing the hazel rods I poked them in the ground at the right spacing (-ish!). I brought them together at the top and wove them into each other, tying in the ends.

Then I wove a wale to stop the dome wibbling and tied in the cross pieces. The pattern it makes is soOo lovely!

The frame is so strong, I could even hang off the centre of it!

This is the inside after it was all finished, so ridiculously cosy!

We recycled a load of rubber matting to act as a waterproof groundsheet and covered them with foam sleeping mats for insulation. Then we covered that in some new, off cut carpet donated by family & topped it all with rugs.

We'd managed to win a woodburner from Ebay which was definitely the heart of the shelter. Would have hated to be in there without it!

Early on Christmas morning I was walking in our oak woods and I came across six stags. I can get so close to the stags on our land, they don't like you being there though and move on in a slow majestic way!

The video is short but gives you a little idea of how they move and how close I got to them.

This stag was separate from the other stags and it was clear to see why. He was obviously lame and very thin. I was sorry that I had disturbed him as he was in a very cosy spot. If you enlarge the photo you will see just how thin he is. It's going to be a hard winter for him.

For our Christmas dinner we had a joint of pork from our neighbours small pig farm. Gloucestershire old spot crossed with wild boar. Delicious! I cooked it in a Dutch Oven on my cooking fire. Which worked a dream. Much better than a normal oven!

Here's me in my outdoor kitchen where I prepared exactly what I would have in a normal christmas kitchen. Lordy I adored cooking outside!

To make my cast iron cooking dishes into little ovens I put them on white hot embers and covered their lids with the embers too. The Dutch oven is designed especially for this as the lid has a lip on it to hold the embers.

Goodness gracious me but the meat and taters were delicious!

Tah daaAAaah!! Maple syrup parsnips, stuffing, sprouts, taters and pork. BuuUUUUuuuuUUuuuuuurrrrrrrpppp!!!!

The next day we processed a large ash tree for firewood, that had fallen last year. There was an exciting moment when some of the supporting limbs were cut almost catapulting my pal Elliott off the trunk! He meant to do it, of course... :)

*sigh* sorting out firewood in front of the bender. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous.

Our new nest. Cant wait to go back in a couple of days to celebrate the Blue Moon & the New Year!

Have a peaceful and happy New Year!!

Warmest hugs,

hen
xx

Frosty New Years Day Walk

We have had the most glorious day! A long walk in the Cotswolds, all magical and white. The wind stayed calm until the very end of our walk so we were comfortable most of the day.


I love these little birds, it's a bunting of a sort. If you get a chance you should check out Bernie's photos of birds , just jaw droppingly breathtaking!


We walked to Uley Bury, a 2, 500 year old ironage hill fort. Stunning views and a very good walk.


Hawthorns never cease to amaze me.





It wouldn't have mattered if the wind was up and biting today, I still would have to be forced to leave this spot.



Looking up is one of my favourite things.



When we got home I made Willow some warm beef dinner, which she scoffed and then slept off in her ridiculously over the top bed we made for her. Mind you she can have whatever she likes from now on, as I accidentally hurt her today. I chucked a hefty stick for her and it caught in branches and fell straight down on her snout. Poor little bean tried to rub it with her paw with her eyes squinting and it's come up in an egg shaped lump. Doom!



Hope you all had a lovely day!

hen
x

A Poem for your New Year

This morning on my walk with Willow I came across many beautiful things. This photo captured a fraction of the beauty of the frost today. It reminded me of this poem and I offer it here to you with much love...


Take my hand.
We will walk.
We will only walk.
We will enjoy our walk
without thinking of arriving anywhere.
Walk peacefully.
Walk happily.
Our walk is a peace walk.
Our walk is a happiness walk.

Then we learn
that there is no peace walk;
that peace is the walk;
that there is no happiness walk;
that happiness is the walk.
We walk for ourselves.
We walk for everyone
always hand in hand.

Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.

Earth will be safe
when we feel in us enough safety.

Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh



I believe happiness never leaves us, even if sometimes we forget it's there. So, my wish for you all is that you remember just how happy you are, as many times as your heart beats, forever. :o)


hen
xx

Clear Blue Autumn

Today there was magic in the air. Magic that gets me deep in my belly and gives me clarity and peace. My mind is turned towards Yule, the coming of mid-winter. Already the signs of labour that has carried on through these months of winter, out of sight, beneath the soil, are beginning to show. Roots and bulbs swelling and preparing for the wane of winter heading towards the birth of spring.



I happen to love autumnal days like this one. Especially when I can spend my time in the woods, exploring, feeling and learning. It is so important to our well being to be able to experience nature in this way. So important. My greatest wish is that as many people as possible can experience their world like this and find peace and solidity.



My other greatest wish is that Willow would stop rolling in poo. Especially when I'm trying to get all spiritual and that.