December is here and it’s brought its to do list. For all that I love having lists any month of the year, December is the one that gets most strictly tamed with tasks and blocks of time. With Christmas prep added to all the everyday routines, I need to chip away systematically at writing cards, buying and wrapping presents and organising food. This doesn’t mean everything is happening in a smooth and clockwork sort of way (it gets to a running around with hair on fire stage eventually), but I usually know what’s done and what still needs to be done.

In one of my social media posts for this blog I mentioned that these posts give me a nudge to remember to notice details around me. And it gives me a place to write down what I’ve observed, so that I can collect a little parcel of moments together and then take a look at what I’ve got. A bit like filling your pockets on a walk, then taking all the contents out and seeing what you’ve got at the end of it.

Throughout the week this is definitely a more snippety kind of exercise. Heading to the shops or the post I notice the golden light and the colour of the trees in the early morning, and the extra nip in the air. There’s a vivid mix of colours around still – evergreens contrast with golden yellow and orange leaves – while other
trees are wintry and bare.

On the way down the hill, I can see the jewelled red berries of woody nightshade. A few weeks ago most of them were still unripe, green and firm. Now there is a scarlet glow of juicy clusters – enticing for the birds if poisonous for almost anyone else.

At home there are often birds in the garden – the sparrows have been using a shallow plant saucer for a bird bath all summer. We’ve been stopping every now and then to watch them splashing and fussing. The sparrows have been chattering all year, but there’s a blackbird as well. I caught sight of him the other day, looking well-fed and ready for winter.

On damp and milder days, the garden still smells warm and earthy. More autumn than winter still. I
am reminded of the very summery February we had some years back, when I could go out without a coat and there were dozens of ladybirds in the hedgerows. It’s both pleasant and unsettling because the seasons are definitely a bit off.

Snippety moments through the week help to lift the days above the to do lists, if briefly. Weekends are best of course for having more time to get out and look around. The photos in today’s post were all taken at Dumfries House, which has beautiful grounds and a really splendid walled garden. It is interesting at any time of year and the autumn colours were looking delightful in November.

Wherever we go, I try to get photos of flowers and trees. Looking through the pictures afterwards is another way of emptying my pockets out to see what I have – I’m always sifting through to see what might spark an idea for a project.

At this time of year, my thoughts are already leapfrogging Christmas to think of spring designs. I’m thinking of the details I love most in the early spring, when everything has been dormant for so long, and then there are flowers again. This year that’s a little topsy turvy, as our primroses are still in flower! The spring bulbs are already making an appearance too, so we will see what January brings…