Foraging for Holly: Making a Wreath

I had a walk in my local wood in search of some holly. I'm hoping to make a small wreath to place on where a friend's ashes are, so I can't go too big. It was quite cold this morning, but the sun came out, so off I went. If there's no holly in the wood, I can always slip up to the church, as I think there's a holly bush nearby. I'm sure the vicar won't mind. 😉 Thankfully, my walking boots had dried out from my last walk. I had to place them on the radiator in the end.

Anyway, into the wood I went. I must admit I wasn't very hopeful.

A bit of bushcraft was going on. Not sure how they get up there.

My hunch was correct. I found a holly bush, but sadly, no red berries.

After a circular walk in the wood, I made my way up to the church. I bumped into someone I knew who told me there was a holly bush at the side of the wall in the churchyard. Now, I didn’t want to be too conspicuous walking around the graves, so I tried to access it along the roadside. Unfortunately, this meant I had to lean over the wall to get to the holly berries. A dog walker was walking up the pavement, so I knew I'd look too dodgy, so I abandoned my military manoeuvre.

Fortunately, my friend also told me that there was a holly bush at the back of the medical centre. I couldn't believe it as I literally live across from the centre and here I was traipsing around the village when I could have easily walked across the road! Finally, I got some holly!

And with that, I made my small wreath. I'd found some willow down at the village pond. It's very pliable, making it easy to form a circular shape, so it's perfect for wreath making. I also added a bit of fern and some pine cones to my masterpiece. God loves a trier! 🙂