December 16, 2012

Into the woods for holly & ivy

Oh for a wrapped up warm, wintry wander in the forest.
A favourite treat of ours during these shortest of days.
 
We loose ourselves in this place, filled with natures magic
amongst the silent & majestic bones of these ancient trees.
 And as we step deeper amongst the branches
the trees twist & turn & take on most mysterious shapes
 
We wander of the beaten tracks and explore
 glimpses of vivid lichens we spy tucked away here & there.

Yet these are not the things we quietly hunt
We are collecting bright prickly holly & starry leaved ivy
to carry back through the falling dusk, to our wee cottage
for there we "deck the halls" and bring the outside in
to celebrate the  coming of Christmas.
like our ancestors before us.

* Long ago holly was often planted near homes to protect against lightening strikes.
Nowadays scientists have discovered that the spiny parts of the leaf do indeed
conduct the lightening away from the holly bush & surrounding area!

15 comments:

  1. Hi Ruthie, Wow, love these pictures and love the factoid about holly.

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  2. Beautiful to see the different kinds of mosses in your forest - and those ROOTS! So interesting what our ancestors did and used... for they surely knew how to talk to the green world.

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  3. Lovely Ruthie, I must see what I can find here, we have so many woods.

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  4. Gorgeous photos Ruthie! Loving that fungi and lichen. I went for a walk yesterday, but ended up dodging so much mud I didn't get any photos :(- yours made up for it!xxx

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  5. Such beautiful photos - I love walking in the woods at this time of year too. Well, anytime really!

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  6. Well this could have almost been my own blogpost today! Yesterday was spent doing exactly the same thing. :) Gorgeous photos Ruthie, hope you and your family have a lovely christmas!
    Jess x

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  7. Beautiful photos Ruthie.On these bare branches and roots it's easier to see the ongoing struggle for survival.Interesting what you say about holly,quite a few have self seeded in our garden......along with the ever rampant ivy!
    Ruby

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  8. wild roses17/12/12 14:53

    Beautiful as always your lovely woods and lovely photos! xxx

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  9. Lovely collages Ruthie.
    Talking of lightening, when I was exiled and got as far as Dumfries to visit my Dad, there was always lightening up from the Nith. Over here in Newton Stewart I think I can count on one hand the number of lightening storms we've had in the last six years.

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  10. that is wonderful to learn about Holly, i had no idea. Thank you.

    so lovely to see your photos and picture you wandering there.

    your winter looks more like deep autumn here.... so lovely.

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  11. love those trees & your deck'd halls are great!!

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  12. Oh Lovely trees. Just seeing pictures of them make me draw a deep breath.
    Merry Christmas!

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  13. Beautiful photos - you have such a good eye! Happy Christmas!

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  14. A smorgasbord of textures... Delicious!

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