54 Comments
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

I had my first baby blackbird in the garden and the pond is full of tadpoles.

Expand full comment

Gorgeous. Here in our little corner of rural France, the daisies have captured our meadow from the dandelions; a peaceful coup negotiated overnight it seems. We have two magnificent horse chestnut trees, positioned a perfect distance apart for the hammock to hang between them. The cuckoo has been signing for a week or two and the greens are SO vibrant. Have a fabulous weekend. Thank you for the beautiful words. Barrie and JoJo

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

The real seasonal thrill of my week was seeing the Beltane fires on Calton Hill from the window of my flat on Sunday night! I don't live especially close to the hill, so it felt really magical that they were acting so effectively as beacons. Apart from that... the first potatoes poking their heads above ground, and I've been loving the gorgeous mint green new leaves of the whitebeam trees mingled with pink blossoms everywhere.

Expand full comment

Tomato seedlings on the windowsill 🌱 are now big enough to be able to brush the leaves and get that delicious tomato leaf smell!

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

The early morning sunlight bringing the children into my bed pre-6am. Lying in bed listening to pigeons stomping on the roof.

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

I love the idea of the cloud shaped horses chestnut trees. I will have to do some spotting myself. This week has been one of those weeks where I feel like I have too much to write about. So I will try and condense it into just three things. The first has to be the crab apple trees, which have absolutely taken centre stage for me this week - their delicate pink and white curling blossom reminds me of rhubarb and cream sweets. Second has to be May Day celebrations - I picked a May Day posy of hawthorn, lilacs, cuckoo flowers, queen Anne’s lace, Alexanders, and other greenery. Then in the evening we had a May Day bonfire - sitting round with cherry liquor and glowing lanterns. And thirdly bright blue pollen-y ceanothus and climbing pink clematis coming into bloom everywhere - each tangling for first place in peoples front gardens. Other than that I am watching and waiting for the wisteria to hit its prime and meanwhile enjoying everyone’s front gardens bursting with Spanish bluebells.

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

I saw my first swallows and spent a whole evening watching them swooping above, catching flies and chattering noisily. The cherry blossoms are big and blousy and bring great cheer on these cold, grey days. The bluebells are bursting forth lighting up even the darkest of corners in the garden and the house.

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

There a ducklings a plenty on the canal - I am hoping the rather large terrapin that lives wild there doesn’t eat them all. It seems to have been released some time ago and can happily put up with the Lancastrian weather.

Expand full comment

It’s baby bird time in central North Carolina. I have seen fledgling Carolina wrens and mourning doves following their parents in the treetops, demanding to be fed. And just yesterday I saw our very first duckling family on the lake in our neighborhood! They had joined their fluffy gosling cousins near the beach, but all swam their separate ways when I walked by.

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

Walking in the winterburna chalk stream through moss laden trees in the wild wood 🍃part of an old estate with a buttonhole of travellers cats eye to protect us on our land walking . Wood violets like blue stars on the land , ransomes and Bluebells creating a somatic scented sense of place .Land ,language and the poetry of naming our Spring Flowers 🥀

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

My garden is full of frothy forget-me-nots, finally the first mint of the survivors in my pots after this winter, apple and quince blossom. Looking forward to a second bluebell walk this weekend

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

I am entranced by how soft the new leaves are-I even saw a beautiful hairy one the other evening

Expand full comment

The daisies here too have caught our eye this week. Their stems are doing their very best to echo the increasing length of the grass, which hasn’t been mown yet this year, so they are excellent for daisy chain making with the littlest members of the family!

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

Cold, dew soaked mornings and warm days; a garden surrounded by bluebells; a bumper crop of rhubarb from the brother-in-laws allotment; a patch of the garden we've left to grow wild and sowed meadow grass and flowers coming along nicely! A kaleidoscope of peacock butterflies spotted on a nature walk. And the garden is full of birds once again. I love Massive Attack, by the way: their track Angel sounds like a thunderstorm to me, building, flowing and ebbing away.

Expand full comment
May 5, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz

Walking through frothy clouds of flowering cow parsley.

Expand full comment

I'm off to find me some cloud-shaped trees!

Expand full comment