small worlds...

i started out in the wintry woods, enjoying the dark and stillness. i realized quickly though that the woods are never fully quiet. the ravens were busy above today, croaking and clicking as they swooped above the treetops. other birds chipped and chirped in the branches, a winter wren sang an insistent song from where it bobbed up and down on a log. but mostly today was regularly interrupted by the motors of trucks and atvs roaring by on the logging roads and quad trails parallel to my forest path. boys busy with their toys. i did my best to ignore their sounds, and wandered off the trail regularly and into the moss, my eyes scanning for possible treasures. it is a bit early, but i have high hopes of spotting an antler shed from a black-tailed deer this year.

soon enough though i felt the pull into the open, where the sun was contemplating peering through the flat grey sky. i ventured out in to the adjacent old clear cut, where a covering of blueberry bushes, salal and small fir trees is beginning to gain a foothold on the big scar. this is now the domain of those atv-ers, but smaller, rougher trails also criss-cross back and forth, the paths of mountain bikers. i've been longing to get on my bike lately, but it's no vehicle for a one-handed girl so it will have to wait. instead i followed these winding paths in my gumboots, up and onto an open bluff to get a better view over the hills. the route was a bit slippery, uneven, and i decided not to think about what decision i would make if i slipped, broken wrist on one hand and a couple thousand dollars worth of camera in the other (i suspect it would be the one more detrimental to me than my beloved camera). the sun broke through and lit up all the green around me. but the best views were of the tiny little worlds that pop out in the winter landscape, when the bigger foliage is sleeping.

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• this hearty but simple lentil soup fed me through much of the last week. it's especially tasty when flavoured with homemade veggie bouillon which i keep in the freezer.
• i love this stripy knit cowl. as soon as i feel up to knitting i hope to attempt something similar with grey wool and assorted shades of yellow and cream.
• just a heads up that i am having a giveaway on facebook on monday, a little valentines treat. i plan to finish stitching up the prize this evening. i hope you'll stop by to enter.

hope you are having a good weekend.