Posted on by Karen

A Curious Oak Tree

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Among Fields and Flowers: Seasons with an Edwardian Lady
Country Diary Reflections, Jan 1906 | Among Fields and Flowers: Seasons with an Edwardian Lady ~ Part 2 | A Slowly Unfolding Series

In my first post, Among Fields and Flowers: Reading the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, I shared how Edith Holden’s diary has stirred my sense of wonder. By slowing down and pondering her sketches and writings, I am beginning to notice the quiet details tucked in.

As I turn to her January pages, one image stands out: a curious oak tree, rooted in a field near Elmdon Park, uniquely catching Edith’s attention from afar.

Before this solitary oak appears in her diary, January is shaped by a series of quieter notes. The entries dwell on the damp and frosty weather, the comings and goings of birds as well as a curious robin—haunting the neighborhood’s gardens—and the picturesque countryside of flowers and foliage.

I am first greeted with her sketching of Blue and Cole Tit birds. Although I cannot share her sketch with you, I can share this resemblance.

Journal entries describe rain, gales of wind, and hard frosts. Not far from a pond, she saw several Moorhens feeding. I anticipate that Edith had her favorite haunts she returned to time and time again.

In addition to weather and wild life, she was particularly fascinated with foliage.

“Jan. 23…Went for a country walk. Every twig on every tree and bush was outlined in silver tracery against the sky…The mild winter has brought out the Hazel Catkins early, the small green flowers are fully expand: red on some of the catkins, and the pretty little red stars on the female flowers are appearing.”

An entire page was devoted to The Yew Tree, which can live to a great age—some “in this country being recorded up to 1000 years of age. It is supposed to have been planted by the Druids in their sacred groves.”

Yew Tree

Edith often quotes poetry, and for the Yew she included lines from William Wordsworth’s poem of Yew Trees where he described them as “the pride of Lorton Vale,” “stands single in the midst / Of vast circumference and gloom profound,” “a living thing / Produced too slowly ever to decay.”

Still my favorite is the curious oak tree. Edith described how from a distance it looked as if “half the tree were dead and the other half covered with glossy green leaves.” Upon closer inspection, she found that the main trunk and two of the main branches were a type of oak tree that is leafless in winter. And “growing out of the crown of the trunk and forming fully half of the tree was an Evergreen or Cork Oak in full foliage. The join in the two trunks was scarcely perceptible.”

A beautiful thing it is to see nature through the eyes of Edith Holden. Before reading these pages, I was not aware of Blue and Cole Tit birds, or of Hazel Catkins, or even a Yew Tree. But I am now the richer for it. And the next time I see an oak, her words about the curious oak tree of Elmdon Park will certainly come to mind.

I stole a peek at her February pages for the next in this series. I am anxious to read of the new foliage and critters she encountered as well as the new places she explored of Solihull and Bentley Heath.

Posted on by Karen

Among Fields & Flowers: Reading The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Among Fields and Flowers: Seasons with an Edwardian Lady
Country Diary Reflections | Among Fields and Flowers: Seasons with an Edwardian Lady ~ Part 1 | A Slowly Unfolding Series

I have been reading a beautiful 1906 nature journal by Edith Holden. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady was published in 1977, long after her death—truly a personal work. In this series, I will share my thoughts as I follow the seasons that inspired her art, the poetry she recited, and her quiet observations, along with why this book has become such a peaceful companion to me.

Each month opens like a window into the heart of Edith Holden’s world. The pages are filled with handwritten notes on the day’s weather, snippets of poetry, and careful observations of plants and birds. Her watercolour illustrations and penned thoughts, woven together, make the book feel like paging through a cherished sketchbook.

I have found it best to read only a few pages at a time, allowing her careful observations to sink in. Edith’s noticing of wildflowers, hedgerows, and migrating birds invites me to pay closer attention to the world outside my own window. There is a gentle humility in the way she records what she sees.

“Edwardian” refers to the early 1900s in England, during the reign of King Edward VII. The period evokes genteel manners, fashions, and countryside life.[1]

Edith grew up near Birmingham and was educated at home, where she was taught “to appreciate literature, especially poetry, sketching, painting, and knowledge of nature.” At the age of thirteen, she began her art education at the Birmingham School of Art, where she focused her attention on nature drawing and painting, exploring the countryside around her home. Edith later became an art teacher at the Solihull School for Girls. It was at this time that she began to put together The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, “a carefully observed record of the seasons in the countryside around her home which includes poetry and delicate paintings of birds, plants, and insects.[2]

As I have learned more about her background, the diary feels even more intimate, as if I am quietly following her from a distance, sharing in her sense of wonder.

Currently, I am reading Edith’s first winter pages. In my next of this series, I look forward to sharing some of the quiet details that have piqued my sense of wonder of her work and observations.

  1. “Edwardian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Edwardian. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
  2. “History.” The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, Lilytig Limited, https://countrydiaryofanedwardianlady.com/history/. Accessed 18 May 2026.
Posted on by Karen

The Heavens Declare…

Bible Journal, Feb. 23, 2026

Lord, You reveal Yourself to us each and every day through Your handiwork displayed in the skies. All that we need to do is look up! For “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1 NKJV).

Though You had already formed the light and created darkness, You “made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night…” (Psalm 104:19-20a ESV).

In looking back to the beginning, once the firmament was in place—that vast heavenly expanse above—You began to paint the heavens.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day (Gen. 1:14-19 NKJV).

Having commanded the celestial lights to shine and ordered the heavens, You continued to reveal the majesty of that creation through the testimony of prophets and poets alike.

The psalmist wrote about the host of heaven being made by Your breath. “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6).

And the prophet Isaiah records Your words on how You stretched out the heavens with Your hands. “I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded” (Isaiah 45:12).

Across the ages, the same heavens that inspired the psalmist and the prophet through You have continued to stir human wonder. From ancient astronomers charting the skies to modern scientists mapping distant galaxies, each new discovery unveils another glimpse of Your design.

Over time, You have unfolded the wonder of Your heavens through knowledge granted to us—from the earliest observers to our modern telescopes. With the Hubble Telescope, You have opened our eyes even wider—revealing countless galaxies extending beyond our own Milky Way. Though humanity may boast in discovery, all wisdom and understanding come from You (Proverbs 2:6).

And yet, even as our telescopes hint at the immeasurable depth and beauty of the cosmos, there is so much more to behold in the story of Your celestial lights.

SIGNS IN THE STARY SKIES

When the sun sets and I am away from the city’s glow, I marvel at the endless canopy of the starlight sky. When I lift my eyes to the same firmament You once declared good, I cannot help but be filled with wonder. Has it not been that way since time began—that such beauty causes our gaze to look upward? And through such beauty, did You not divinely catch our attention, and in so doing, provide celestial markers to order our lives from the beginning?

In praising You, Job looked up in wonder at the starlight constellations. “He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea; He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number” (Job 8:9-10). Your constellations—these bookmarks in the sky, visible to the naked eye—have been known from antiquity.

Beyond the marvel of their beauty, mankind has used Your celestial lights for direction and navigation, especially in the deserts and the seas. While sailing, the apostle Paul alluded to the map You created in the sky when he lamented, “Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up” (Acts 27:20).

With the passing of days, years, and seasons—and even in the navigation of our journeys—you have set the heavens to bring order to our lives. Through Your design, our days find their rhythm in labor and in rest, and we are blessed as the earth yields Your bounty to nourish our bodies.

STARS COUNTED, YET SOULS CHERISHED

Yet beyond the design and rhythm of the heavens lies a deeper truth—a reminder that You who numbered the stars also cherish our souls.

With the stars, how amazing it is to reflect: You not only know the number of stars—You have named each one! “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name” (Psalm 147:4).

In awe, King David pondered, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).

You who stretched out the heavens, also care tenderly for us. You not only count the stars and call them by name (Psalm 147:4); You know the number of hairs on our head.

Your care for us runs deep and Your steadfast love never fails. As You said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31). Truly, we are precious in Your sight.

In fact, we are so precious that You sent Your only Son, Jesus, to cover our sins with His blood. And just as the heavens have long declared Your glory, one night a singular light appeared—announcing the greatest expression of Your love: the birth of Your Son.

HIS STAR IN THE EAST

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:1-2 NASB).

I am intrigued by the magi and Your mysterious star which they sought. They must have known the heavens intimately to discern that this starlight was unlike any other. Their journey from the east—perhaps hundreds of miles—speaks of both their devotion and their wealth. In traveling such a distance in those perilous times, while carrying precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they surely moved in a large caravan of trusted companions. What a sight that must have been as they entered Jerusalem, catching the attention of the king himself.

They spoke to King Herod of Your star announcing the birth of the King of the Jews. Was Your star noticed by others? There was no mention that anyone in the King’s court had any idea.

Though Israelites may or may not have been aware of the star, to them the birth of Your Son was announced through a host of angels!

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:8-14 NKJV).

For the Israelites, the birth of Your Son was foretold through the prophets as well as through angelic appearances to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. To the Gentiles, You sent Your star—the Star of Bethlehem—that supernatural celestial light—to announce the all important birth of Your Son.

The story of Your coming is well known throughout the world. From the highest of heavens, You entered into history born into the lowliest of circumstances, in a manger. As the announcement of Your birth was to the Jew and then to the Gentiles, so are Your promises.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:26-29).

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