equinox

Today is the equinox, when day and night balance delicately and equally in the rhythm of the seasons…

this past week since the snow, the natural world has been moving into this time – flowering, emerging, singing, energy rising…

I have been thinking so much about nests, home, hearth, a safe place, belonging, and all in need of these…

In the darkness of the January winter we found this nest under a clay tile down in a quiet space, a little place found and made into a safe home – we gently put the tile back, covering and protecting this shelter for whoever it belongs to …

The bird feeders have been a whirl of activity – tiny long tailed tits frequent visitors with a flash of pale rose pink and the sound of little high pitched contact calls. We found an old nest late last year in the field – feathery lined and moss covered, crafted with intricate care and skill to nurture their brood safely – I look at it often

This morning whilst raking grass and leaves for compost-making, we watched a pair of robins who have decided that the shed – dishevelled and increasingly fragile, with a laburnum tree holding it up – will become their chosen nesting place. They have spent all day in and out through both a crack in the window and the space above the propped open door, twigs and moss nearby. Their sense of belonging heartened me, they are unafraid to make this space to nest be their own for a while and we will watch and leave them undisturbed, feeling joy that they are there with us and hopefully glimpsing their fledglings

Thinking about all these matters, I stitched a sample of a block – log cabin – new for me to make. I will work on another to play with light and dark balances and I have decided to brew a madder dye-pot so the centre can be a focus for warmth. What bird song I will record I am still wondering