I wonder

if the sap is stirring yet, 

If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate, 
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun

And crocus fires are kindling one by one:

Sing, Robin, sing;

I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring. 

I wonder if the springtide of this year 
Will bring another Spring both lost and dear; 

If heart and spirit will find out their Spring, 

Or if the world alone will bud and sing: 

Sing, hope, to me; 

Sweet notes, my hope, soft notes for memory. 

The sap will surely quicken soon or late, 

The tardiest bird will twitter to a mate; 

So Spring must dawn again with warmth and bloom, 

Or in this world, or in the world to come: 

Sing, voice of Spring, 

Till I too blossom and rejoice and sing. 

Christina Rossetti

Found in the garden today.

A Blue Haze

They say blue and green should never be seen, but what could be more lovely than woodlands magically dressed in blue and green?

The Bluebell
 The blue bell is the sweetest flower
That waves in summer air;

Whose blossoms have the mightiest power
To soothe my spirit's care.
by Emily Bronte

The seasonal wheel keeps turning, and now that our native bluebells have carpeted the woods, Spring can give way to Summer

Winter's Beauty

The sap is rising, days grow longer, bulbs busily thrust themselves through the earth, some even have flowers. Trees stand unadorned, silhouetted in their skeletal nakedness against Winter's skies. They too await Spring's arrival, their bare limbs show signs of buds but throughout the year many play host to some of Mother Nature's frilly, lacy, little jewels.

Lichens are a partnership between members of two different kingdoms that live together in a special, mutually beneficial relationship - a symbiosis

Each lichen is made up of a fungus and an algae: the body of the lichen is built up by a tough fungal hyphae, and the algae lives inside that framework 

The fungus protects the algae from the harsh world outside, and provides it with water and mineral nutrients. The algae makes its own food by photosynthesis, then leaks some of this food, which in turn is absorbed by the fungus as it cannot make it's own food

Their partnership is so tough and self-reliant that lichens can grow on rocks in the desert where nothing else survives. When it is too dry, too hot, or too cold, lichens go into a state of suspended animation until conditions improve. Because the algae make up only 5% of each lichen, and are out of action for much of the time, lichens grow very slowly - only a few millimetres per year. They make up for this by living for centuries, or in some cases, millennia 

Lichens have one serious weakness - they must absorb their mineral nutrients from the rain. So if the air is polluted with sulphur dioxide, this dissolves in the rain and is absorbed by the lichens which often die as a result - lichens are a predictor of good air quality.
All of these lichen photos were taken in our garden - the row of skyline trees was taken on Exmoor 

Winter

"Come said the wind to

the leaves one day,

Come over the meadows 

and we will play.

Put on your dresses

scarlet and gold,

For summer is gone

and the days grow cold."

A Children's Song 1880 

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."
Edith Sitwell 

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."

John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Under a blue winter sky today I found lots of green shoots making their way through the ground in our garden

"What day is it?"

"It's today," squeaked Piglet.

"My favourite day," said Pooh.

A.A. Milne

Spring Reflections

I love this time of year - Spring is in her infancy, tree sap is rising, and each passing day reveals ever more colour and growth. The sun rides higher in the sky, Gold Finches flit in and out of the shrubs, Blue Tits build their nests, and hopefully we too can hatch our own plans for the coming months that stretch before us.

In our area, the first official day of Spring, gave us a 90% view of the solar Eclipse during 8.00am to 10.00am - after rummaging through several drawers I successfully managed to find the correct glasses. Watching it through the special lenses was brilliant so much better than the one we viewed back in 1999.
The sky was blue and the sun shone brightly; through the glasses we could see the moons passage across the front of the sun clearly and sharply. When the eclipse was 90% total it was as if night-time dusk had arrived, the birds flew into the trees to roost, and there was an eerie silence.  

via

the special glasses turned the sun bright orange and  the moon and sky black

It was such a lovely morning that we decided to make a day of it, packed a picnic, and headed off down to the canal 

The Lock Keeper's Cottage

All along the canal towpath wild Anemone blanda were flowering

A boat from Wales moored in the canal honouring Shirley Bassey. She was born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff

A male Mallard keeps a close eye on a female

A perfect Spring day