December is turning out to be a funny old month. After a horrible day yesterday it was really nice today.
It was windy but it was nice.
We went out to play in the fields behind the farm and while she was messing about, I was thinking about how much we have enjoyed these fields over the year.
This isn’t the most species rich habitat that we explore but it does have it’s own character and sometimes it is spectacular. We see things here that we would never see in the forest or down the little country tracks that we wander.
In April it was Dandelions… Thousands of them.
In May they went to seed.
A couple of weeks later the field was yellow again, this time with Buttercups.
These fields are rented out to a local farmer. Sometimes he will graze animals here (There are sheep on them at the moment) but this summer he was allowing them to grow to produce silage for his animals.
By June the grass was so long that finding our ball was becoming a bit of a problem.
In June the grass was cut and there was our ball.
That wasn’t the end of the story. By July the fields were full of Clover.
Now it is December and we are still enjoying these fields.
Today it was a bit windy.
I wrote about two wildflowers today but I think that I will save them for a rainy day 🙂
A Tramp in the Woods 
Marvelous glimpse into the year’s phases.. And grab that hat!
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Thank you Barbara 🙂
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Does Fizz fetch hats and does she leave dog slime all over it?
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Thanks John 🙂 She likes to chase them but she doesn’t bring them back 🙂
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And… Have you ever done a post about your stick/rod/staff or whatever it is? We see glimpses and shadows and it is becoming quite intriguing.
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agreed. I love that stick.
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Thank you for the inspiration John 🙂
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That was such a nice tour of the year in a wonderful field. Do you make dandelion wine? It’s so cute to see Fizz rolling around with her ball. She has such a sweet personality.
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Thank you Sarasin 🙂
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cows, horses, love sweet clover. As a kid, I would pick it and tie the stems together and make a sweet-smelling necklace. I love the smell of cut hay and clover on the wind on a summer day, brings back such peaceful memories.
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Thank you Joy 🙂 Lovely memories.
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Such a long shadow you have with the sun so low in the sky! A really productive field.
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Thank you Clare 🙂 It is a long shadow and it was only about one o’clock in the afternoon. A low December sun but at least we are getting sunshine.
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We could easily miss the diversity of life in a field if it weren’t for guys like you who have the time to get out an observe. I bet you’d not swap your current life for a place in a city.
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Thank you both 🙂 I don’t think that I will live in a city again.
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I think Colin might very well roll over and die if he had to live in the city! We all enjoy you taking us along with you on your country walks, Colin.
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Ah, but here in Massachusetts, it is in fact a rainy day! And icy. And cold. And there are no fields to see or balls to chase. Thank you for your view of buttercups and clover, my dogs and I are all sighing with yearning.
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Thank you Karen 🙂 It is raining today but so far this has been a great December.
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Okay now I feel like I can relate to your post…dandelions, check… buttercups, check…clover, got it…losing the ball in the grass…only if the resident mower of lawns misses a week which doesn’t happen. But the big field can hide a plethora of animals including rabbits and groundhogs.
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Thank you Virginia 🙂 The big field also hides my Badgers 🙂
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Oh, how Fizz makes me laugh!! 🙂 She is a source of joy in my life! 🙂 Thank you Fizz for being so sweet and funny! 🙂
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Thank you Trini 🙂
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Hats off to you both for a lovely post. A stunning cast! How clever to coo about rolling in the clover and dandelions in December 🙂 A great way to boost their image ~ who wouldn’t want to do that right about now?
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Thank you Stephanie 🙂
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My first thought was, “Look how white Fizz is underneath!” She is usually so muddy, it is hard to tell! 😉 How nice to go back via photos to relive the spring and summer in the fields. I love the hat flying away – it was indeed a blustery day!
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Thank you Eliza 🙂 Heh heh! She is not so white today 🙂
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How wonderful, the local bees must have loved the dandelions and clover.
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Thank you Emily 🙂 The little Bees got a bit carried away.
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Fizz and my shadow….., there’s a song in there somewhere. Hats off to you both.
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Thank you Andrew 🙂
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Fizz rolling around on dry grass in the sunshine surrounded by so many delightful colours. And here in Toronto a blanket of snow. Your posting is a mini-vacation! :- )
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Thank you Steven 🙂 We are having some good weather in between the bad stuff but I would love a bit of snow here, I doubt that Fizz has ever seen it before.
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I find each post so interesting. Today you have shown us one field’s history for a year. Then we have this wonderful photo of your elongated shadow and Fizz’s shadow and your hat’s shadow joining the mix before the hat even gets there. You do much with your camera to amuse a nursing home resident via her computer. I thank you once more.
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Thank you Ettel 🙂 I did plan that picture, I knew that my hat would blow off my head, it had already happened about six times. I wanted to capture the spirit of the day, the low December sun and Fizz and the wind. I was hoping to get the shadow of the hat in a way that it would be recognisable. I didn’t realise that the hat had blown into the photograph until I got home. That was luck 🙂
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And I stored the remarkable results!
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That’s some beautiful countryside you have to wander about in. It would be lovely for an avid walker like myself, but it will have to wait for another time. In the meantime, thank you, and thank Fizz for me, for taking me along with you on these walks, it’s the next best thing to being there. ‘Til next time.
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Thank you David 🙂 I am so glad that you enjoyed the walk.
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Love those fields of clover! (So do the bees, come to think of it!!!)
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Thank you Lori :0 The Bees and the Butterflies.
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What a wonderful start to my day! It was so joyful and thankful. Fizz looks so much like my dog when I was a youth. Her name was Tinkerbell after a sailboat that was making it’s way across the ocean.
Hope you have a lovely walk, today…
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Thank you Pam 🙂 It is nice to remember animals from our past.
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What a wonderful celebration of A Year in the Life of your field! And I’m reminded of my favorite Emily Dickinson poem:
To make a prairie, it takes a clover, and one bee.
One clover, and a bee.
And reverie.
The reverie alone will do, if bees are few.
🙂
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