It’s that time of year again and the craziness is building. This year we have the added pressure of daily nature challenges so this thread is for those times we manage to combine the two!
40 – Cutting the corkscrew willow and making a light decoration…
Saturday 22 November. Rainy. 9°C
We’re lucky to have a corkscrew willow in the garden, with fabulous curly twigs. It’s also really overgrown. I do most of the ‘pruning’ (that implies technical knowledge that I don’t have – maybe cutting is more accurate!). B then works through the off cuts to find the best bits for Grandma’s Christmas decorations and we both remove the leaves but leave on the catkins.
Getting them in the vase is the tricky bit… and getting it to stand up straight when the lights are on.
34 – Testing the ‘Twinkle Trail’ in the Square
Thursday 27 November. Damp. 13°C
The Twinkle Trail I run every year in the local square is up and ready to go and B has agreed to test it for me. She’s a pro at this now – it’s her fifth year doing it. She finds all the lights in 14 minutes and 25 seconds. I’m impressed. The elves are trickier. She’s found one and needs some help. It takes her another five and she’s scathing.
“That’s really hard! Little kids don’t look up. They’re not going to find them”.
Hopefully the parents will have better luck.
33 – Finding ‘our’ Christmas tree…
Saturday 29 November. Damp. 11°C
We’re lucky enough to have a Christmas tree farm near us. After growing up in London I find this totally amazing. You turn up with your wellies and they have some trails for the kids and a shop and you can then wander off into the woods to look for the perfect tree. Up till this year we’ve never made it as far as the woods but gone for the ones already cut and put out on display. This year I’m determined we’re going to get there!
We ignore the elf trail and the welly trail and the shop with it’s roaring fire and head straight off into the plantation. We don’t find one but B has a lot of time looking. After a while we realise that the good ones have been cut and what’s left are the less pretty ones. We’re not opposed to a not pretty one but B has decided that she wants one as tall as she is (ie, short). That limits us a bit though I’m all for the moderation. We normally go the other way, can’t get it in the car and have to get it delivered.
We head back to the cut trees and finally find the little ones. After a lot of height checking and general examination we opt for one even shorter than B but with a lot of personality. Then we get to put it in a sled thing and B pulls it round to get it wrapped.
It goes in the car surprisingly easily and when we get it home B says she’s decorating it herself this year. There’s real pluses to 10 year olds! After some consideration she name it Fifi or ‘Fiona Nirvana’ for formal occasions. The kitten likes it too but hasn’t yet worked out how to pull it over. Fingers crossed that continues.
32 – Finding Christmas sticks in the woods
Sunday 30 November. Sunny. 9°C
We may have our tree but the house is still in need of some decoration so we’re going to the woods. This was one of my favourite things to do before I had B. Now she’s getting the joy too.
My criteria for a good Christmas stick is fairly straightforward. I want something with an elegant shape and lots of little branching off bits to hang baubles on. B has a more complicated testing system. She does strength (this involves breaking off twigs sadly); how good it is at being waves about and a sniff test (to check for dog poo). Not all the options make it through but we end up with three reasonable specimens which we then carry for the rest of the walk.
We also get a wood walk. The stream is back with gusto after being complete dried out over the summer. We have a cautious wade. We find amazing fungi growing on a tree and a fallen tree which we have to climb over. There’s also a fascinating noise coming from a way away which sounds like a giant frog. B spends ages calling back to it and none of us can work out what it is.
27 – Gathering holly and ivy
Friday 5 December. Rainy. 9°C
I’ve got B to join me in the local park after school. It’s threatening rain so we have to be quick but we have a big task. We need some holly and some ivy. We’re planning to make a wreath and our garden won’t supply these. I’m presuming that no one’s going to mind us picking a bit of either. I’m pretty sure there could be less ivy in the park anyway and there’s lots of holly. I think we’re helping.
The ivy’s easiest to find. I get fascinated with getting a long strand of it, thinking it can weave in and out of the garland. B likes bigger shorter ones. Then we look for the holly. This is more tricky and more prickly but we end up with a few little twigs of it. There are no berries. The birds clearly beat us to it. Then the heavens open and we run for it.
26 – Making a wreath
Sunday 30 November. Rainy. 11°C
It’s wreath making day! We’re not expert at this. I wouldn’t suggest following our method but we have a lot of fun. We follow what we did when we made an autumn crown a few months ago and raid the corkscrew willow in the garden for long, thin bendy strands. They wind surprisingly well into a sort of circle. Then we gather the holly and ivy we picked yesterday and lots of cuttings from the evergreen in the garden (and some which got blown off in the wind in the park).
B gets to work. I’m not allowed to help. It’s clearly a desirable activity! I find some red fabric and silver ribbon and she ropes it all together. I suspect she doesn’t stick them in far enough because it ‘sheds’ quite easily. she ties the ribbon around to hold it in place and proudly hangs it on our front door.
It keeps shedding but I’m still impressed. Other peoples wreaths always look so lush and impressive. This one is not that but considering the lack of expertise we think it’s pretty good. Even if it does shed a bit!
19 – Making a Christmas tree for the birds
Saturday 13 December. Cloudy. 11°C
It’s finally stopped raining for a bit and B and I are heading into the garden to make a Christmas tree for the birds, as mentioned in the Enid Blyton story we’ve been reading. We made the bird seed feeders yesterday (well I did most of it) but the smell of lard is still filling the kitchen and we want to get them out of the house.
We have an obvious problem. We have two cats, both of whom think birds are GREAT. Pickle is older, lazier and past his prime bird catching days. Little Primrose, now 10 months, is just getting into the swing of being a scary predator. The question is, which of our garden trees and shrubs can we make into a bird tree.
The big evergreen is obviously out. Primrose lives in that and likes to poke her nose out the top so she can show how high she can go. We ponder the corkscrew willow. Helpfully she demonstrates how good she is at climbing that one too. That settles it. There’s a little pear tree which is just high enough to be out of kitten jumping reach but is too little to be climbed on. Hopefully this will work.
We tie on the cardboard rolls and cups we filled with seeds and lard yesterday. It looks pretty. Primrose fails to get to it. Hopefully the birds will enjoy.
16 – Making a Christmas present for the rabbits
Tuesday 16 December. Cloudy. 10°C
B is feeling a bit poorly and is home from school. We’ve been clearing out the loft and I’ve found an old wicker corner basket I was going to take to the tip. Then we thought of an alternative.
I cleared out the garage a few months ago to make it more accessible and less bunny focused but they’ve been looking a bit miserable. They have two lovely hutches they won’t go in. The kitten has taken those over. They could use something new to play with.
We line it with cardboard. B offers to put the hay in and has fun pulling it out of the bag. Then she finds a good corner to wedge it into and she goes back to the sofa.
14 – Singing carols in the square
Wednesday 17 December. Not raining at that particular moment…for a change. 11°C
Every year, a local gardening charity organise a group carol sing outside. It’s been very rainy today and I’d presumed it wouldn’t happen but amazingly, half an hour before it’s due to start, it’s dry. I beg B.
“PLEEEAAASEEE COME!!!”
She took pity on me and we managed three and a half carols before she got fed up. One day I’m hoping she’ll like them as much as I do but right now she finds the slow ones boring and gets cross when she doesn’t know them. It was lovely while it lasted.
9 – A walk to see the Christmas lights
Tuesday 23 December. Cloudy. 5°C
We’ve done this a few times already but tonight is the official version. We’re going to see the Christmas lights. We usually have a standard competition of who can spot the most decorated trees in people’s windows. We’ve got a few houses near us who do reindeers and other decorations as well and they’re always a great find. We throw in B’s wayfinding skills sometimes and let her lead the way. It’s good to have a target a way away to head to and back. The council helpfully put reindeer in the council offices gardens which is a highlight.
