This is the row of limes that I mentioned in last week’s post, including the now-fallen play tree. You can see what giants they are/were, but I mainly took this because of the GREEN. What green…
Hello! Week 20?? Already? Surely we’ve only just got started… A quickie from me this week as I’ve left it all a little late. This is my weekly post of seasonal things that were very ‘this week’ that happened to me this week, and of course we begin with a round up of your last week’s comments. Here’s your Week 19:
Swifts, everywhere!; sand martins too; wisteria being absolutely astonishing; pastel carpets of blossom petals; out without a jacket twice; sea haar; preparing European snacks for Eurovision; curlews and red squirrels; an annual kick-off to summer party for Kentucky Derby horse race in the US; cathedral-like beech tree boughs with their newly bright, fresh green majestic arches overhead; a coronation party with stupendous crown-on-a-cushion cake and coronation quiche; the sea warm enough for a proper swim; blue tit fledglings chirruping sweetly in the thick ivy of the garden wall; a children’s crown parade in Paris which turned into a very British picnic with thunder and rain; native fire pinks having a moment in North Carolina; watching the coronation 5 hours delayed in Texas sipping Pimms Cups and eating tiny sandwiches; planting out sweet peas; summer allergies kicking in; eating dinner outside; popsicles after school.
Absolute magic, thanks to every one of you.
Here’s my Week 20:
Moulting
Good grief the dog is moulting... When I first saw and fell in love with my big white dog Korina I just thought ‘oh she’s so beautiful and fluffy!’ I did not think about springtime, and the house being COVERED in hair. She needs a trim. Or several brushes a day. Meanwhile though I noticed a pair of little house sparrows (which nest in our roof) with beakfuls of what I think might be Korina fur. We will have the most luxuriously appointed nests.
Eurovision
Eurovision! What can I say. Not quite the thrills of last year. We were staying with friends and played this game. You put a load of likely words into a hat: ‘baby’, ‘love’, ‘beautiful’, ‘dream’ etc…and pull them out and get points every single time they are mentioned. The game does depend on a very specific level of interest though: interested enough to watch Eurovision but not interested enough to have actually listened to any of the songs beforehand. As you can see I did amazingly…
Asparagus on toast
Is this the worst food pic you’ve seen this week?! So sorry! I ate my first asparagus of the year and only realised how ‘this week’ it was when…well, you can see exactly when i realised… I had it with delicious multigrain sourdough toast and a poached egg and it was delicious.
That’s it from me. Tell me what things you have noticed/eaten/done/watched for a great many hours on a Saturday night…that felt particularly ‘this week’ in the comments below.
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 🌸