The Small Things Spreading Joy in January

Posted on by Kizzia

These felt especially important in what I find to be one of the least naturally cheering months of the year (I don’t like February much either) and looking at them all together does make me smile. I hope they raise your spirits too.

A hand with dark green nail varnish on it holds a book in front of a book shelf (that contains books on tarot & witchcraft as well as a porcelain wren, wooden boxes, candles and stones). The book cover is in shades of blue and bright pink, with stylised animals and plants forming a border. In the centre in alternate white and pink lettering it says “The Way Back Almanac 2023: A Contemporary Seasonal Guide Back to Nature, Melinda Salisbury”. It is lit by a shaft of sunlight, really making the colours pop!
A frosted yew branch covered with cobwebs that are also frosted, making it look like it’s been festooned with very thin tinsel. In the background, out of focus, is a river reflecting the blue of the sky, a frosted fields with frosted trees and a blue sky with a few wispy clouds.
A yellow green bud at the end of a twig which is covered in pale green and yellow lichen.
Trees bare of leaves reach up to a mediterranean blue sky, the morning sun turning their branches greenish gold. The sky is draped with wisps of cloud and the ground beneath the trees is full of shrubs and bracken all earthy browns and greens.
A rocky stream running directly towards the camera, through the edge of a wooded glade. The banks of the stream are covered with fallen leaves and dotted with ferns and grass. In the back ground are trees, some with their leaves still green, a dry stone wall, all set against a pale blue cloudy sky.
Landscape showing a river completely over spilling its banks, coming right up to the gate in the foreground of the picture. The river water reflects the blue sky, clouds and trees around it and looks more like a lake than a river.
A Robin looks towards the camera, head slightly cocked. He is standing on a frosted gate post and there are frosted shrubs behind him.
A sage green A5 notebook with a silver propelling pencil on top of it sits at an angle on a rumpled green crochet blanket.
A tree covered in golden leaves stands in a field lit with sunshine. The ground around it is covered frost and the sky behind it is bright blue.
Landscape with a river over spilling its banks into the field beyond. The river’s normal edge is marked by tufts of trees and shrubs in the middle of the water. The blue of the sky and the trees at the far edge of the river’s flood are reflected in the water, the un-flooded field beyond is deep green and there are fluffy clouds in the sky.
A delicate silver bee necklace where the body of the bee is an amber drop. The necklace sits on a bright yellow and white striped cotton t-shirt. The edges of a green jumper are visible at the bottom of the photo.
A Nasturtium flower in shades of yellow and red is peaking out from the large flat leaves surrounding it. Both the flower and the leaves are covered in droplets of dew.
Close up of a yew branch, with red berries, covered in rain drops and glistening wetly.
A hand with a green varnished thumbnail holds a greeting card. It is a cross stitch design, on pale blue fabric, depicting a green mitten with gold cuff and gold decorative crosses and a K in the middle. In the background is a bookshelf filled with books and random knickknacks.
In the foreground of the photo is a fallen tree over which a covering of moss had grown and then over that is a thick layer of frost. The sun is shining, glinting off the top edge of the frosted trunk, and illuminating the mud and trees in the background.
A footpath through a wood that passes directly between two tree trunks which, together with a fallen tree they are supporting, form a door frame. Taken in the spring the woodland to either side of the path is vivid with the green of new growth, the white of wild garlic, and patches of bluebells.
Close up of a vase of yellow roses, all half open.
A clump of what I think are daffodils, newly sprouted through the layer of leaf litter on the woodland floor. There are no flower heads or blooms, just fresh green leaves shooting straight up. In the background the ground slopes sharply upwards towards blue sky and some trees.
Next to the woodland path a tangle of trees overgrown with shrubs and brambles makes a natural cave with a dark entrance.
A close up of a Shepherd’s Crown surrounded by acorns and conkers, all stood on the sage green back of my journal.
Close up the end of holly branch with four deep green leaves and two red berries. They are all glowing in the midday sunshine.
Bare trees and grey skies make for a bleak photo but there is green in the brambles covering the woodland floor and a tiny splash of red thanks to the breast of a robin sitting on the tree branch in the middle of the photo.
Three poinsettia flowers, all very healthy looking, surrounded by green leaves. The poinsettia fills the photo so no background is really visible other than some pale curtains to the left of the frame and the leaves of another variegated plant in the top right corner.
A clump of thin green leaves are shooting out of the leaf littered ground either side of a fallen branch.
A fresh growth of ivy spreading across the trunk of a fairly old tree. Both ivy and tree are covered in dappled sunlight.
Close up of a pale cream green and lilac coloured bell shaped flower with lilac and white striped stamens. It is surrounded by dark green shrubbery.
A clump of daffodils sprouting out of the leaf litter in the floor of the wood. Yellowing flower buds can be seen at the tips of the three tallest stalks.
A clump of snowdrops with their flowers almost open, growing in the front garden of a house that looks like it was built in the 1960s. The snowdrop clump has leaf litter around it and a lawn in the background.
A cluster of deep purple-black berries surrounded by dark green ivy leaves.
Bright yellow flowers cover the prickly green gorse bush, glowing despite the lack of sun.

And the 31st small thing is tiny in both subject and length; eight seconds of a wren darting about on a tree stump by the river at Attingham Park.

< The Small Things Spreading Joy in December

The Small Things Spreading Joy in February >

One thought on “The Small Things Spreading Joy in January”

  1. Pingback: The Small Things Spreading Joy in February – Kizzia Mildmay

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