Hedge – Dreaming In Stitches

Tree time: An oak through a year…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Well, as many of you will know, back at the beginning of January 2014, on a whim, I started taking a photograph each day, of one particular oak tree that I pass while walking the Delinquent Dog.

A year and many, many pictures later (I didn’t miss out too many days in 2014), I thought I’d make a little slide show to show how the oak and the surrounding hedges changed over the course of the year. It’s also a record of some of the blue skies – and the many grey – we enjoyed during our morning walks.

I love watching the tree, but in fact it’s really the changes in light that have had me most enthralled over the months – even the enormous changes day on day we sometimes have.

What these pictures don’t show is the rain – occasionally quite a lot of it! And sadly they can’t give you the sounds to go along with them. Today, it was really noticeable how much more the birds are beginning to sing again – it might not feel too spring-like yet, but it sounds like spring already. And there have been many mornings when the wind was roaring through the branches, like a train going past!

I’ve selected quite a few here, but if you’re really interested/mad/have nothing better to do – and want to see every day – go over to my Instagram page – click here or on the links in the sidebar – and you should be able to scroll through them all.

I was going to stop once I’d completed a whole year, but I find now that I can’t just walk past without getting the phone out for a quick snap, and anyway the dog automatically walks to our spot and waits for me, so I’ll just keep on doing it. I’ve sort of got into the habit of posting them up on Instagram, so if you want to keep following, just pop over to the side panel or follow me on Instagram.

If anyone feels a tiny bit inspired to do something similar – not necessarily a tree, there are lots of alternatives – please go ahead and tell us all about it – you’ll actually be the one who has the most fun though – I guarantee.

❤

Tree Time: September

hedgerow watching

In which we know it’s autumn…

Nine months of watching the changes to the oak tree on the lane. Above is a picture from each month of 2014, starting in January and ending with the picture I took this morning, showing how the tree – and the hedge – has changed over the weeks and months.

In August, although I felt that something was beginning to be different in the air, you still couldn’t really say that we’d moved into autumn, but now, despite afternoon temperatures on many days reaching summer levels, you certainly know at 8am in the mornings, that the earth has turned into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness…

The oak is changing colour now. There were hints of change last month, but they were difficult to pinpoint, the quality of light makes such a difference to what you can see each day. Now I can see the beginnings of a golding, as if someone has lightly sprayed antique gold paint across the leaves. But it’s still subtle, green continues to dominate.

But change is more obvious in the lane.

The lush growth of midsummer is dying down now. Bracken is tinged with brown as the first fronds die back. The cleavers that I thought would strangle the nettles have all but disappeared. And everywhere, the huge abundance of fruits is evident. The hedges are red with haws and hips, and sloes and blackberries hang heavy along the way.

Gradually I’m beginning to be able to see through the hedge again to the fields beyond, which until now have been hidden behind a curtain of tall, thick green foliage.

This month I’ve surprised a couple of pheasants and been mocked by dozens of squirrels – they obviously think that teasing the Delinquent Dog is a jolly good game. And is it me, or can I hear more birdsong now – it certainly seems so.

I haven’t quite had to resort to gloves and a scarf yet, but it didn’t feel far away today – I might get them out ready.

❤

I post my daily photographs of the tree and other snaps from walking the Delinquent Dog on Instagram – either follow me there, or see the mini-versions on the right-hand sidebar of the blog for regular updates.

❤

Tree Time: August

hedgerow watching

Shhhh! If we all keep very quiet, I might manage to write this before the teenage daughters materialise from their beds. I don’t generally find August compatible with blogging – we’re either out and about doing too much, or we’re in, but I can’t get anywhere near my computer for girls watching YouTube or playing fantasy games. So let’s be quick…

When August started, you could still make a fairly convincing argument for it still being summer. We had plenty of hot sunny days with a few gloriously blue skies off-setting the wonderful greens from the oak and the hedge in front of it.

But it wasn’t long before I felt there was quite a change to the air on the early morning walk. A tinge of coolness on the edge of the breeze that hadn’t been there before. Much of the hedgerow undergrowth has died back now and views are beginning to open up again through the gaps in the hedge.

By this morning, there really isn’t any doubt that we’re now at the beginning of autumn.

Thick dew on the field this morning. And berries appearing all along the lane.

There was a different quality to the light through the trees.

Autumn is my favourite season.

I’m not going to dwell too much on this, but this morning, I noticed how extremely glossy and gorgeous the holly bushes are at the moment – and how many berries they seem to be growing – isn’t there some country saying about the amount of berries and the harshness of the winter?…

Too soon to be thinking about that.

❤

Sounds from upstairs – time to be off.

Enjoy the rest of the summer, back into the swing again very soon.

❤

For more or less daily pictures of the oak and what’s happening on the lane, follow me on Instagram or watch the bar at the side of these posts.

Tree time: July…

hedgerow watching

Phew, we made it to the last day of term! Things are a bit behind around here, but I’ve just stolen a few minutes to write up the latest from my daily tree project, before I pour a large glass of something red and delicious and head to the sofa.

This was the oak at the beginning of July

As the weeks go by and the hedges fill outwards and upwards, it’s getting harder to see the tree behind the green screen.

And here it is today (July 23rd) – the bird box is now almost invisible behind all the growth.

Seven months in and the best thing for me about this whole project so far, is that I’ve gone from sort of noticing what was going on around me, to really being interested and looking out every day for changes in the hedges and trees along our route. I’ve become much more aware of what’s growing where and the developing leaves, flowers and now fruits too. I wish there was a pet naturalist handy to come along on the odd walk and tell me more about what I’m seeing, but I’m definitely learning a lot about the local plant and animal/bird life.

A while ago, I realised that I’m inevitably going to want to be able to compare what I’ve seen this year with what happens next year. At first I tried keeping a daily diary – on paper and then digitally, but I just don’t have the time to keep up that pace, so I thought I’d try to do a summary here once in a while.

So the highlights of July on our daily walk have been…

Seeing the baby conkers start to form.

But being concerned that the horse-chestnut trees already seem to have gone into autumn mode – they’re all like this, is that normal or are they ill?

Ok, you’re probably wondering why I’ve put this picture here. Well, until mid-July the whole lane was a mess of huge, dangerous pot-holes (which it has had for as long as I’ve been walking this route) Then one morning two weeks ago, as the dog and I stood clear of a fast approaching Audi, we watched him hit a particularly big hole and blow out his front tyre. I stopped to talk to him and he said the council should sort out the road – oh yes, I thought, and pigs will be sprouting wings any day now, but just look what happened a week later!

Mind you, it was a very patchy job to say the least, as you can see by the amount of water still filling the holes after the mid-month thunderstorms…

Can you see the squashed traffic cone in the hedge – it used to mark the biggest hole. You’d still be foolish to drive, walk or cycle in those puddles.

Talking of rain, we’ve certainly had our share this month. The lane becomes a fast-flowing stream – which I love, but the dog hates…

The sky has been wonderful

But perhaps the best part of the month has been watching the fruits arrive in the hedgerow…

elderberries, not ready yet, but there will be plenty.

Hazelnuts,

and blackberries, although there are still a lot of brambles in flower.

These thistles are nearly over now, but I loved their shape and texture.

The lane feels more like a tunnel now that the hedges are so high. This was the lane in February

And today.

I think I may have become a tiny bit obsessed with all this 🙂

❤

Tree time: March…

hedgerow watching

It’s been about four weeks since the last tree project update, and as you can see, we’ve had a lot more sunny days. The oak tree itself still seems much the same, although in just the last few days I’ve noticed so many more buds appearing in the hedgerow, spring is definitely making its presence felt.

I continue to be surprised by how the light varies each day – all these pictures are taken at roughly the same time each morning, and I’m not adjusting the exposure, so what you see, is how it is on the day.

The main difference I’ve noticed since the last post, is the huge increase in birdsong and general bird activity during the morning walk – I wish there was a way to give the pictures their soundtrack. And we’ve seen lots of baby rabbits darting through the hedge – very sweet.

)O(

Over in the sidebar, are my Instagram pics of the Daily Tree Project, with the occasional stitchy update and other random snaps from daily life around here.

Do feel free to explore, or follow on Instagram or Twitter.

)O(