How beautiful the weather has been today,from the first finger of bright sunshine that sent a beam of golden light through a chink in my curtains to the last glowing fire of the sunset among the trees.
I opened the curtains to meet a sharp frost,glistening with the magic of a thousand sunbeams silvering the fields and the railings at the bottom of the garden. The frost could not compete with the sun and as it melted away the fields were draped with a rising mist out of which flocks of geese rose into the sky. The river too held a cover of mist and resembled for a time a bathtub full of very hot water, then as quickly as it had come it faded away in the warmth of the advancing morning.
The sky was the true beauty of the day, as blue as forget-me-nots and not a cloud in sight,clear scintillating blue to lift the spirits and encourage the heart. All day the birds sang in the orchard, the blackbird has a lady friend and the robins are going about in pairs, on a day like this I feel that all gloom is chased away after the dark gloomy days of January.
In the orchard a carpet of crocus opened their pretty petals as the sun slid around the side of the house, their bold yellow stamens attracting the odd very early bee that disappeared as soon as the sun dipped over the old orchard wall.. Their are so many crocus that the top of the orchard under the damson tree is a carpet of purple and blue, yet as the sun moves away they close up so tightly that the seem to disappear. Under the apple tree the sharp spears of bluebell leaves are a promise of yet another carpet of blue in a few weeks time. This year I am rather behind with my gardening and the vegetable plot has yet to be dug but today nothing could spoil my pleasure in contemplating all the glories to come.
I know that there will almost certainly be more bad weather before the real spring arrives ,still a day such as this is a reminder that winter must end and that nothing can stop the change of season for long.
The cat Twiggy has been out and about all day. She has climbed every tree in the orchard and has , for the first time this year spent an hour in her own little tree house.....she has two.....at this time of year they catch all the sun and in summertime when the leaves are fully out she loves the shade in the afternoon.
Soon I shall start on the garden, the bark chip for the front garden arrived yesterday and I have purchased some new seed propagators at the bargain price of three for five pounds. These will be used to start the pumpkins and squashes, the cucumbers and tomatoes and I shall have to start them soon. Today I just enjoyed the view, this is a very odd little village, you would never believe that the heart of London was just a few miles away. The view from the window as I write is of trees and fields and I am grateful that this is so. I am a country bumpkin at heart and cannot survive in an urban environment,I feel caged, stifled and very miserable if all I can see are houses. The river is about twenty yards away and teeming with water birds. I watched a cormorant diving for fish recently,he caught seven small fish in half an hour, while a heron further up the riverbank caught nothing at all. I love it here although I do miss the quiet of real countryside and the darkness at night, in London it is never dark.
I hope to be able to visit my mother soon, I heard today that I can get respite care, just for a few days, I have not been home for over four years because my husband cannot travel and I cannot leave him behind. I am so excited,I telephoned my mother to tell her and we both cried, she is eighty six now and I want to see her so much .I knew today would be a good day as soon as I saw the sun., perhaps with a little help things will improve for us. It is good to have hope.on this wonderful blue and golden day.
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