I love the house sparrows with Korinas fur and to think of them decking their nests out. My three things are; dancing red poppies on the side of a train platform. They have such a short cycle - in a day they seem to go from bud to bloom to seed head. Blink and you miss it. It almost feels too soon but my second thing is the first properly open roses of the season - and they were magnificent - fragrant English garden roses in blush pink in an Oxford college, climbing the ancient walls and windows. They bobbed gently alongside one side of the lawn as we played croquet on the lawn with Prosecco. Beautiful. And thirdly - not sure this exists, but Spring déjà vu! Travelling up from Bristol to Birmingham mid week this week means I feel like the phenological timepiece has been turned back. Suddenly the crab apple blossom and wisteria are still in full ish bloom, the bluebells still out and not a whisper of open peonies or roses yet... insane that a few days or a weeks difference in blooming time can make such a difference 🌸
I've really noticed the scent of spring this week (possibly a sign my sense of smell has finally recovered from Covid as much as anything else...) - the hawthorn and lilac especially! There's a row of hawthorn growing just past our flat on my way to work and every morning/evening it's a punchy waft of spring to the nose.
Moved the irises in March and thought they would be lovely next year BUT they are fabulous this year. Bigger and better than ever! The fox nearly came indoors as did the partridges. I now have the back door closed at all times. Glorious birdsong.
My 5 year old picking buttercups on the way home from school and diligently checking whether I do indeed like butter, by placing them under my chin. Emails from the school with dates for sports day and school trips. The smell of freshly mown grass. Reading books about minibeasts and frogspawn.
The green, walked to my local library yesterday and the park was just so green with a white trim of frothy cow parsley and May blossom. The bird song was amazing too, even I. The middling the day. Glorious.
Definitely Eurovision - it’s like Christmas for me, all the build up beforehand then the big day itself so this week has felt like the post Christmas blues. However I’ve really noticed the horse chestnuts this week - they seem to really be bringing their A game this year. All of them seem to have bloomed at the same time!
So sweet when birds get caught in the act of feathering their nest with your dog’s fluff. I hope you get to see the finished nest. This week the gopher snakes are out and about, mating and soaking up the warmth. Roses are in fragrant bloom and a few fava beans have made it to market, which will be in full swing any day now.
It is such a celebratory time of year! Graduations everywhere. Mother’s Day here in the US. My oldest goddaughter had two end of year concerts at school which meant a long drive for a short show twice in one week. Wild roses blooming rampantly on my neighbor’s hill. A pavlova to make for another goddaughter’s birthday. There is just so much happening!
I live in evergreen QLD, Australia, and while our seasons are opposites, funnily enough it’s just gotten cool enough to be outside in the middle of the day (so I feel the same sense of joy as you do in the NH for being outside). Loving be able to put the blanket out in the dappled sunshine in the back garden and look at the trees/sky/grass with my 5-month old baby boy.
Every time I bend down to tend to the veg bed I get a whiff of garlicky shallots, they’ve really come on in the last week or two. And last night I walked along a path where all the rowan trees have come into flower. Not something I would have paid particular attention to before I started making a conscious effort to tune into the seasons. Everything is a bit magical when you stop to notice it. Even stinky shallots. 😊
Finally we’ve had a number of sunny days in a row here in Paris. It’s been beautiful and (as Sam says) green 💚
I had my first strawberries of the season which were absolutely delicious.
We took a long walk round the lake early one morning and saw a gulp (apparently the collective noun for swallows which I love!) of swallows all doing amazing acrobatics in the air as they caught their breakfast.
We also had our third bank holiday of May too for Ascension day. An excellent week.
Your asparagus looks delicious I love the food of spring/summer.
Some utterly brilliant word pictures from everyone this week - thank you for the scrumptious sights, sounds, scents, and tastes you evoked so vividly! And GREEN - yes! Is freshly unfurled green ever ANY greener than in the month of May when Nature reveals her power to overcome the cold sad months so compellingly? Loved your three Lia - the doggy fluff sparrow, Eurovision fun and yummy asparagus all so engaging ! My three are all in the context of coming back to West Sussex from Northumberland for a few days to see our family - and realising that we really are about 2-3 weeks behind you up there ! So the first thing I saw as we drove through the Downs was all the May blossom and startling green if the huge beeches- then our beautiful wisteria all up the front if our house here! The large Choysias in the front garden also competing in the full on flower stakes! Then yesterday we went to “ my spot” West Dean gardens for brunch and a walk - and were met with the most glorious sights of vaster swathes of almost head high cow parsley and buttercup avenues left in flower due to a very generous No Mow May policy ...on that sort of scale it was magnificent! I’ll post a picture tomorrow.
May 20, 2023·edited May 20, 2023Liked by Lia Leendertz
Yes moulting for me, there’s some exceptionally dishevelled blue tits in our garden, when brushing our cat year round we save her fur from the brush and put out in feeders around the garden in late winter, our garden birds can help themselves at nesting time. Secondly, beautiful, stately horse chestnut trees, erupting with their stunning candelabra shaped blossom. Lastly #wisteriawatch a daily check on blooms , not too many thus far. However I’m relieved that the threat of frost feels to have passed. May I break the rules and slip in a 4th ‘this weeky’ thing? Started off some rhubarb gin, my first time doing so, such a beautiful colour and satisfying (read quick and easy) process!
Green, green, green, green, green, green, GREEN! 💚💚💚
I love the house sparrows with Korinas fur and to think of them decking their nests out. My three things are; dancing red poppies on the side of a train platform. They have such a short cycle - in a day they seem to go from bud to bloom to seed head. Blink and you miss it. It almost feels too soon but my second thing is the first properly open roses of the season - and they were magnificent - fragrant English garden roses in blush pink in an Oxford college, climbing the ancient walls and windows. They bobbed gently alongside one side of the lawn as we played croquet on the lawn with Prosecco. Beautiful. And thirdly - not sure this exists, but Spring déjà vu! Travelling up from Bristol to Birmingham mid week this week means I feel like the phenological timepiece has been turned back. Suddenly the crab apple blossom and wisteria are still in full ish bloom, the bluebells still out and not a whisper of open peonies or roses yet... insane that a few days or a weeks difference in blooming time can make such a difference 🌸
I've really noticed the scent of spring this week (possibly a sign my sense of smell has finally recovered from Covid as much as anything else...) - the hawthorn and lilac especially! There's a row of hawthorn growing just past our flat on my way to work and every morning/evening it's a punchy waft of spring to the nose.
Moved the irises in March and thought they would be lovely next year BUT they are fabulous this year. Bigger and better than ever! The fox nearly came indoors as did the partridges. I now have the back door closed at all times. Glorious birdsong.
My 5 year old picking buttercups on the way home from school and diligently checking whether I do indeed like butter, by placing them under my chin. Emails from the school with dates for sports day and school trips. The smell of freshly mown grass. Reading books about minibeasts and frogspawn.
The green, walked to my local library yesterday and the park was just so green with a white trim of frothy cow parsley and May blossom. The bird song was amazing too, even I. The middling the day. Glorious.
Definitely Eurovision - it’s like Christmas for me, all the build up beforehand then the big day itself so this week has felt like the post Christmas blues. However I’ve really noticed the horse chestnuts this week - they seem to really be bringing their A game this year. All of them seem to have bloomed at the same time!
So sweet when birds get caught in the act of feathering their nest with your dog’s fluff. I hope you get to see the finished nest. This week the gopher snakes are out and about, mating and soaking up the warmth. Roses are in fragrant bloom and a few fava beans have made it to market, which will be in full swing any day now.
It is such a celebratory time of year! Graduations everywhere. Mother’s Day here in the US. My oldest goddaughter had two end of year concerts at school which meant a long drive for a short show twice in one week. Wild roses blooming rampantly on my neighbor’s hill. A pavlova to make for another goddaughter’s birthday. There is just so much happening!
This week was the wrap up to the university semester/year with Commencement today. Outdoor concerts. A wonderful summer-like thunderstorm.
I live in evergreen QLD, Australia, and while our seasons are opposites, funnily enough it’s just gotten cool enough to be outside in the middle of the day (so I feel the same sense of joy as you do in the NH for being outside). Loving be able to put the blanket out in the dappled sunshine in the back garden and look at the trees/sky/grass with my 5-month old baby boy.
Every time I bend down to tend to the veg bed I get a whiff of garlicky shallots, they’ve really come on in the last week or two. And last night I walked along a path where all the rowan trees have come into flower. Not something I would have paid particular attention to before I started making a conscious effort to tune into the seasons. Everything is a bit magical when you stop to notice it. Even stinky shallots. 😊
Finally we’ve had a number of sunny days in a row here in Paris. It’s been beautiful and (as Sam says) green 💚
I had my first strawberries of the season which were absolutely delicious.
We took a long walk round the lake early one morning and saw a gulp (apparently the collective noun for swallows which I love!) of swallows all doing amazing acrobatics in the air as they caught their breakfast.
We also had our third bank holiday of May too for Ascension day. An excellent week.
Your asparagus looks delicious I love the food of spring/summer.
Some utterly brilliant word pictures from everyone this week - thank you for the scrumptious sights, sounds, scents, and tastes you evoked so vividly! And GREEN - yes! Is freshly unfurled green ever ANY greener than in the month of May when Nature reveals her power to overcome the cold sad months so compellingly? Loved your three Lia - the doggy fluff sparrow, Eurovision fun and yummy asparagus all so engaging ! My three are all in the context of coming back to West Sussex from Northumberland for a few days to see our family - and realising that we really are about 2-3 weeks behind you up there ! So the first thing I saw as we drove through the Downs was all the May blossom and startling green if the huge beeches- then our beautiful wisteria all up the front if our house here! The large Choysias in the front garden also competing in the full on flower stakes! Then yesterday we went to “ my spot” West Dean gardens for brunch and a walk - and were met with the most glorious sights of vaster swathes of almost head high cow parsley and buttercup avenues left in flower due to a very generous No Mow May policy ...on that sort of scale it was magnificent! I’ll post a picture tomorrow.
Yes moulting for me, there’s some exceptionally dishevelled blue tits in our garden, when brushing our cat year round we save her fur from the brush and put out in feeders around the garden in late winter, our garden birds can help themselves at nesting time. Secondly, beautiful, stately horse chestnut trees, erupting with their stunning candelabra shaped blossom. Lastly #wisteriawatch a daily check on blooms , not too many thus far. However I’m relieved that the threat of frost feels to have passed. May I break the rules and slip in a 4th ‘this weeky’ thing? Started off some rhubarb gin, my first time doing so, such a beautiful colour and satisfying (read quick and easy) process!
Have a wonderful week everyone. X
So excited about it being asparagus season that I made some mayo especially for it. Asparagus, poached egg, mayonnaise, crusty bread. Fabulous