Tag: Woodland

Ordinary Time?

*Photos by Gill Henwood of Hellebore & Rhododendron in her Lakeland Garden*

The short period between the end of the Christmas Season (at Candlemass on February 2^nd) and Lent, is known in the Church as ‘Ordinary Time’.
As far as Nature is concerned this is very far from the truth. In the Western Hemisphere and particularly in Europe we are moving into the season of Spring. Though in many parts of Europe it has been a particularly stormy and wet period of late, there are many signs that there is new life emerging from the earth.

The photos which my friend Gill Henwood has sent show “hellebores in full flower and an early rhododendron.” She says that “both were budding before Christmas and, so far, have weathered frost and wind”, not forgetting hares which have turned their attention towards other plants this year!
The Christmas Box plant has been wafting beautiful scent throughout Cristmastide. The aroma is fabulous even on dark mornings and dark night walks in the garden. For Gill, this is a reminder of the Frankincense of Christmas.

The ‘Greening’ of the earth which Gill’s photos point to is being experienced through the emergence of buds and bulbs shooting on branches and in the soil. Crocus and daffodil are close behind. My tulips are pushing leaves through the top of the pots, seeking the breath of light and life. This morning, near the church path, buds and a dusting of green spoke to me of God’s amazing creative activity. This Winter has been harsh for many and the world situation is so dire that there is a need for us to re-focus.

Right on cue we can fill our lungs with a breath of hope and wonder.
We can find joy in the singing of the birds and soon the animal kingdom will fill our fields, forests & woodlands and gardens with new life. Bees and butterflies, insects and worms will populate our gardens, hedgerows,lakes and ponds. So much new life and growth will teem and swirl, dance full of life and reach to heaven as the trees prepare to become shade and homes and hiding places for all manner of creation..

And we? The Spirituality of Nature lifts our souls from creation to Creator.
All this is gift from our giving God!
And in a mutual thanksgiving, our part is to be custodians and stewards of the earth, living in deep friendship with Creation, Nature, and with all who allow us to share this earth with them.

As the poet Rumi reminds us:

In this earth,
in this immaculate field,
we shall not plant any seeds
except for compassion,
except for love.

Such a giving from God leaves no room for anything from us but compassion and love for all.
Hardly an Ordinary Time!

[Mr G. with thanks and love to Gill Henwood for her wonderful photos
and comments.]

A Surprise of Creation

Scarlet elf cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca)

These photos come from my friend, Gill Henwood.

Gill was tidying up her garden ready for Spring recently. –
“We found this in our damp dell whilst cutting back ferns to give emerging snowdrops more light.
This is a Scarlet Elf Cup (Fungus), A beautiful deep scarlet, hidden within the soft blush cup.
Vibrant colour, in a woodland floor of decaying twigs and leaves, and mosses.
Creation surprises us with unexpected delights. Rich red on a gloomy, cloudy, drizzling day.”

For more information, visit the Woodland Trust website, which describes the Elf Cup as ‘Mystical and cheery.’ Mystical and cheery, the scarlet elf cup grows on decaying sticks and branches in damp spots and beneath leaf litter on the woodland floor. Their bright pops of colour brighten up even the darkest winter day.

Elsewhere we read that, ‘The Scarlet Elf Cup’ gets its name from folklore that says woodland elves use the vibrant, cup-shaped fungi as tiny goblets to drink morning dew or that fairies bathe in the rainwater collected in them. Its bright red colour against the winter woodland floor, combined with its delicate, cup-like shape, inspired these imaginative tales of mythical beings.

Elf-cups (a poem by Mr G)

Hidden beneath decaying leaves
forest debris moves.
Soil crumbles beneath finger and thumb
of creation’s constant action.
Earth changing shape as pale wintry light
penetrates the woodland womb
bringing to birth cup-like, colourful fungi
signs that winter prepares to herald Spring.
God’s creation always surprises us,
if we but look with open hearts
ever expectant to be captivated.

Yet look again – these chalices of winter dew
may carry Nature’s sacrament of new life
to waiting elves!

Mr G. 24^th January 2026

Woodland ponder

*Woodland collage* *photographed b y Mr G*

An Autumn Pondering

They lay where they fell, spine cracked wood,
snatched from their roots yet lying on the ground which once fed them.
Separated logs, twigs, branches, brushed aside and hidden by the lofty trees which remain swishing their still-leaved branches, a little too haughtily.
Mourning or with relief? The fate is not yet theirs.
Allowing the wind to jet-stream through the whisper of greens and faded yellows turning gold and red.

The dying of autumn leaves flutter down like confetti at a wedding where the bride and groom have long since departed.
Soon they will be carpets strewn by nature over the dead,
hiding what has been lost, grave clothes which will also fade and die.

The Cycle of life and death leaves behind a part of nature that will rot and crumble its way into the earth that bore them, enlivened and sustained them.

Here, in the stillness of the forest, Dying and death, so natural here in the grove, is never Natures final answer. The fallen wood brings hope of life for others. Quiet movement announces that the tenants of the Forest,
are seeking shelter from the coming tendrils of frosty winter.
They creep into the open veins of broken wood – insects, over-wintering spiders, slugs and beetles already yawning, awaiting hibernation.
Late-skipping squirrels pause to rest on upturned benches made by the forest debris, wondering where they buried their winter food.
Woodland creatures; birds, rabbits and foxes; bats, worms burrow deeply, nesting bees, beetles and woodlice, millipedes, even snakes, all gather as Nature holds out a welcome to the Winter hotel.
So many of nature’s guests book their wintry yet warm rooms, each finding peace and safety and food according to need and station.
Rain falls onto wood opening up pools of refreshment in the crevices or intertwine of branches, as fungi steadies itself for growth and roots give up the water so necessary for life.

In Nature nothing is wasted.
Nothing is left over, abandoned, discarded.
All are part of the creative cycle of life to which we all belong.
Only God our Creator is eternally whole and holds everything in love according to His Divine Plan.

Mr G. October 12th 2024

For more information about the importance of dead wood
see the presentation under ‘Deadwood’ on the Woodland Trust site.

Hatfield Forest is under the care of the National Trust.

Reaching for Light

Reaching for Light
Gill’s Pondering July 17^th 2024

Responding to your post, love not hate, (daily posting 15^th July), in the shady dark spinney, a group of astilbes are reaching for light from a sea of nettles, brambles, large ferns – all overpowering strong competitors.
The sunlight on the pink flower plumes brings joy into a dark corner.

In this little bit of wood, we are working towards a balance of ‘weeds’ aka wild flowers, and plants, with strong enough introductions to try to thrive. So far it’s willow whips growing into shrubs we will coppice or pollard, Angelica archangelica which may seed there (flowering for the first time), shuttlecock ferns.
There are celandines in spring and enchanters nightshade going to seed now, both impossible to eradicate. So we’ve added bluebells in a drier slope (flowering from seed this spring, seven years after sowing). Wood sorrel is welcome and is spreading.

One willow variety has black catkins with red stamens – all descendants from a couple of twigs used in a flower arrangement at St James’s Whitechapel long ago, either at a flower festival or patronal – the twigs have rooted in Lancashire (two gardens) and now Cumbria. A companion with happy memories of times shared, people who arranged the flowers, wonderful Petertide and patronal liturgies and other significant occasions.

Happy memories of love shared, through the light shining into the shady spinney – as complex an environment as our lives, communities and nations. Love never ends/fails (1 Cor 13)!

[Gill Henwood]

Lord of all life,
you created the universe,
where all living things reflect your glory.
You give us this great and beautiful earth,
to discover and to cherish.
You give us sun and moon and star-lit sky,
everything that gives us light,
light for our eyes, our hearts, our minds.