I have celebrated the light ,the hellebores ,the tiny crocuses like lavender shadows in the grass .I always think of saffron being picked in fields from this amazing tiny presence as it opens to display its pollinated stamens . Then the catkins which can now be swung as they blow out clouds of pollen .Nature at its finest but then saddened by the fury of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria uprooting so many 🕊🙏🍃
In West part of France, called Poitou . Aquitaine. Where I live now it has been a wonderful week of rising suns over white fields. During the days the fresh green of the fields appears, birds are busy around the bird house and in the bushes . Every single day has a treasure brought by Nature . Thank you for your beautiful photos and great newsletter. Until Sunday all the best . Sylvie 💐
We had to move out of our house last year for repairs for most of the year so I missed almost everything in our garden last year. This week I’ve been enjoying the witch hazel flowering, fuzzy purple catkins on the dwarf willows and the bright red of the dogwood branches. We also did some
much needed pruning and our trees are looking a bit smarter after a year of being away. I have taken branches of the pruned hazel tree complete with catkins and tiny red flowers into the house and pass them in the hall all day looking extremely festive, with a big bunch of daffodils beside them. We did this two years ago with the hazel prunings and after a few weeks the branches inside began to leaf! So looking forward to that. I am unwell at the moment and not able to get out and about as much as I usually do and would usually like to so I am so enjoying your weekly letter and also all the comments from everyone
else allowing me to vicariously enjoy all the gardens and parks and Nature that everyone else is seeing! Brenda xxxx
Love the imagery you’ve painted here - in winter I had a bare larch branch in water as a Christmas decoration and after a few weeks I started getting new green pine leaves on it! It was like magic x
We only really see jays in our Sheffield garden in autumn and winter, so it was lovely to see one in the crab apple tree close to where I was sitting with my morning coffee yesterday. Actually, I was alerted to its presence by a loud squawk. But then (and if I hadn’t been close enough to see as well as hear) it started mimicking a cat meowing. Couldn’t believe my ears. Tried to record it, but of course someone’s car alarm went off. Looked it up and apparently it’s a thing. Made my day 😄
A frosty morning sharp enough to make your sinuses sting;a moonbow-encircled full moon; Venus and Jupiter sparkling after sunset; a rare and brief glimpse of a fox on the street.
Thanks for the reminder that I should get out and look at the stars and planets! I’ve been too comfortable indoors and don’t have a dog who needs walking.
I’ve been inside essentially windowless labs for the past two days so have missed lots of the glorious weather, but caught snippets of it at the start of the week. One of my favourite sights has been banks of dark green, unobtrusive daffodil leaves and shoots, the heads round with potential, not quite tall enough to burst into bloom yet. I am waiting for them, willing them on. My second thing is the first day of it smelling like spring and having that tangible warmth in air that made you want to get up and go (this was prior to the frost). In late winter I think the sunshine starts to “feel” warm and it makes me act like a cat trying to bathe in patches of sunlight through windows or on benches. And yesterday I looked it up and there is actually a word for it - apricity (n. The warmth of the sun in winter). And lastly, the heady smell of mahonia flowers, which it took me three days of walking past, to figure out that I was smelling a real plant and had not hallucinated myself into early summer, their scent was so intoxicating.
I feel like people always have so many beautiful words to share in this community - haar, pollarded, Alpenglühen, galanthophile... maybe you should do a Substack post where people post their best unusual nature-y words? You know like a seasonal dictionary? X
That would be gorgeous wouldn’t it. Or I wonder if it’s better to let them come out naturally but try to keep track of them somehow. Substack needs a new feature!
This week has been all about the blossoms in the Monterey Bay Area. Fluorescent oxalis and yellow mustard fill vast spaces between the Brussels’ sprouts fields and the Pacific ocean. White and pink petals blooming on plum and cherry trees soften the city streets, and at home, little yellow jonquils light up the garden in the out of the way places where the ground squirrels have stashed them.
After a green woodpecker in my garden eating ants last week, a lesser spotted on the tree I was under while the dog had a pee this morning. I do love a woodpecker
We have been experiencing what we call “false spring” here in the southern United States. A couple of days this week the temperature has been near or at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. On Wednesday, as I walked from one building/meeting to the next on the university campus where I work, I stopped, sat down, and turned my face to the warm sun for 15 or so minutes. Doing nothing, taking in the light and warmth--the most impactful part of my day.
I drew back my curtains to see two foxes and two hares in the field behind my house. It was a beautiful frosty morning with the orange sun rising on one side, and the icy full moon on the other. Pure magic!
Outside my front door I have a tiny border. There is a clump of snowdrops, cyclamen and crocuses. A hellebore is about to open its buds. The front garden also has the best views of the glorious sunsets we've had this week.
I climbed Arthur's Seat with a friend who was visiting and who had never done it before. It was bright and mild enough to sit for a moment at the top, though very crowded! Real magic to be able to point out the sea unfurling around us as we climbed, and to see someone realise in real time that Edinburgh is in fact a coastal city, haha. The skies have been extraordinary - we sat at the back of the top deck of the bus on the way home and I just gazed down Princes Street in amazement at all the colours. And the full moon was glorious!
That sounds gorgeous! I know what you mean about revealing the coast. Less dramatic, but I grew up in Sunderland and people were so shocked to see it has a beautiful beach.
This week has been beautiful! I have been able to see some beautiful sunrises and sunsets this week, I have normally started work before the sun rises and don’t finish until after sunset. (a few days off this week). Chasing sights of the full moon. The return of the Tawny Owl with the full moon, I have not heard him over the last few months. Listening to him as he moves through the trees from the railway embankment to the graveyard. An icy morning walk in the woods, we tend to walk these woods in the afternoon, how different and wonderful. Watching the rabbits in the adjacent fields as the sun begins to warm up the ground.
a week away watching the full moon rise behind the pine trees; white frost on the woodland paths all day where the sun didn't reach them; and then home again to find the beech tree surrounded by crocuses
Lovely post and photos. I’m fascinated by the haar I’d never heard of it but when I lived in Norfolk we used to get similar little pockets of mist that seemed to come from nowhere.
This week has been all about the moon. I’ve loved seeing it out my kitchen window every morning first shining brightly in the dark and then paler but still beautiful in a pinky blue dawn sky. I wish I could capture it probably in a photo.
We have also had some wonderful sunsets here.
I’ve also noticed the sudden appearance of hearts in all the shops as we gear up for valentines. There are some truly beautiful chocolate creations in some windows - too pretty to eat 😊
This week we have had a large flock of migratory birds spending most of their days in the trees in my backyard. It is unusual for them to stay so long, but with snow on the ground north of us and the nice mild temperatures here who can blame them? I will miss them when they fly north. I’ll save my first open daffodil for the photo post. 💛
I have celebrated the light ,the hellebores ,the tiny crocuses like lavender shadows in the grass .I always think of saffron being picked in fields from this amazing tiny presence as it opens to display its pollinated stamens . Then the catkins which can now be swung as they blow out clouds of pollen .Nature at its finest but then saddened by the fury of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria uprooting so many 🕊🙏🍃
Thanks Su, yes awful x
In West part of France, called Poitou . Aquitaine. Where I live now it has been a wonderful week of rising suns over white fields. During the days the fresh green of the fields appears, birds are busy around the bird house and in the bushes . Every single day has a treasure brought by Nature . Thank you for your beautiful photos and great newsletter. Until Sunday all the best . Sylvie 💐
That switch from white to green must be magical.
This sounds glorious
We had to move out of our house last year for repairs for most of the year so I missed almost everything in our garden last year. This week I’ve been enjoying the witch hazel flowering, fuzzy purple catkins on the dwarf willows and the bright red of the dogwood branches. We also did some
much needed pruning and our trees are looking a bit smarter after a year of being away. I have taken branches of the pruned hazel tree complete with catkins and tiny red flowers into the house and pass them in the hall all day looking extremely festive, with a big bunch of daffodils beside them. We did this two years ago with the hazel prunings and after a few weeks the branches inside began to leaf! So looking forward to that. I am unwell at the moment and not able to get out and about as much as I usually do and would usually like to so I am so enjoying your weekly letter and also all the comments from everyone
else allowing me to vicariously enjoy all the gardens and parks and Nature that everyone else is seeing! Brenda xxxx
This is a gorgeous thing to do and I want to copy that too! So glad you’re enjoying it, and yes the comments are such a treat.
Love the imagery you’ve painted here - in winter I had a bare larch branch in water as a Christmas decoration and after a few weeks I started getting new green pine leaves on it! It was like magic x
You’ve inspired me to get some daffodils and find some hazel to prune! It sounds lovely. Hope you’re able to get out and about more soon.
We only really see jays in our Sheffield garden in autumn and winter, so it was lovely to see one in the crab apple tree close to where I was sitting with my morning coffee yesterday. Actually, I was alerted to its presence by a loud squawk. But then (and if I hadn’t been close enough to see as well as hear) it started mimicking a cat meowing. Couldn’t believe my ears. Tried to record it, but of course someone’s car alarm went off. Looked it up and apparently it’s a thing. Made my day 😄
Amazing! I love to see jays, they always look a bit more extravagant than a bird should be here.
Wow how amazing to hear that!
Wow incredible!
A frosty morning sharp enough to make your sinuses sting;a moonbow-encircled full moon; Venus and Jupiter sparkling after sunset; a rare and brief glimpse of a fox on the street.
That moonbow was amazing ! my friend couldn't see it and I though it must be my eyes playing tricks, so glad to hear that you saw it too
Thanks for the reminder that I should get out and look at the stars and planets! I’ve been too comfortable indoors and don’t have a dog who needs walking.
Dogs do drag you out whatever the weather, it’s true!
Ooh a moonbow, glorious
I’ve been inside essentially windowless labs for the past two days so have missed lots of the glorious weather, but caught snippets of it at the start of the week. One of my favourite sights has been banks of dark green, unobtrusive daffodil leaves and shoots, the heads round with potential, not quite tall enough to burst into bloom yet. I am waiting for them, willing them on. My second thing is the first day of it smelling like spring and having that tangible warmth in air that made you want to get up and go (this was prior to the frost). In late winter I think the sunshine starts to “feel” warm and it makes me act like a cat trying to bathe in patches of sunlight through windows or on benches. And yesterday I looked it up and there is actually a word for it - apricity (n. The warmth of the sun in winter). And lastly, the heady smell of mahonia flowers, which it took me three days of walking past, to figure out that I was smelling a real plant and had not hallucinated myself into early summer, their scent was so intoxicating.
I feel like people always have so many beautiful words to share in this community - haar, pollarded, Alpenglühen, galanthophile... maybe you should do a Substack post where people post their best unusual nature-y words? You know like a seasonal dictionary? X
That would be gorgeous wouldn’t it. Or I wonder if it’s better to let them come out naturally but try to keep track of them somehow. Substack needs a new feature!
The word ‘Petrichor’, describing the smell of rainfall on the earth. I enjoy that one!
Oh that spring smell! I haven’t caught it yet.
I wish I had room for a mahonia - they really smell beautiful!
This week has been all about the blossoms in the Monterey Bay Area. Fluorescent oxalis and yellow mustard fill vast spaces between the Brussels’ sprouts fields and the Pacific ocean. White and pink petals blooming on plum and cherry trees soften the city streets, and at home, little yellow jonquils light up the garden in the out of the way places where the ground squirrels have stashed them.
Wow sounds stunning
After a green woodpecker in my garden eating ants last week, a lesser spotted on the tree I was under while the dog had a pee this morning. I do love a woodpecker
Wow! Ace
We have been experiencing what we call “false spring” here in the southern United States. A couple of days this week the temperature has been near or at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. On Wednesday, as I walked from one building/meeting to the next on the university campus where I work, I stopped, sat down, and turned my face to the warm sun for 15 or so minutes. Doing nothing, taking in the light and warmth--the most impactful part of my day.
Unseasonably warm here in Ohio too. I’ve been soaking up the sun without my usual wool hat and thick fur lined hood!
Sounds lovely!
A reminder of what is to come! Lovely
I drew back my curtains to see two foxes and two hares in the field behind my house. It was a beautiful frosty morning with the orange sun rising on one side, and the icy full moon on the other. Pure magic!
How magical!!💖
WOW!!!
Oh good grief that’s a perfect moment!
It really was 😊
Incredible!
Outside my front door I have a tiny border. There is a clump of snowdrops, cyclamen and crocuses. A hellebore is about to open its buds. The front garden also has the best views of the glorious sunsets we've had this week.
What a lovely spot to come home to!
That’s some good forward planning!
I climbed Arthur's Seat with a friend who was visiting and who had never done it before. It was bright and mild enough to sit for a moment at the top, though very crowded! Real magic to be able to point out the sea unfurling around us as we climbed, and to see someone realise in real time that Edinburgh is in fact a coastal city, haha. The skies have been extraordinary - we sat at the back of the top deck of the bus on the way home and I just gazed down Princes Street in amazement at all the colours. And the full moon was glorious!
That sounds gorgeous! I know what you mean about revealing the coast. Less dramatic, but I grew up in Sunderland and people were so shocked to see it has a beautiful beach.
You live in a very special place! Love Edinburgh
This week has been beautiful! I have been able to see some beautiful sunrises and sunsets this week, I have normally started work before the sun rises and don’t finish until after sunset. (a few days off this week). Chasing sights of the full moon. The return of the Tawny Owl with the full moon, I have not heard him over the last few months. Listening to him as he moves through the trees from the railway embankment to the graveyard. An icy morning walk in the woods, we tend to walk these woods in the afternoon, how different and wonderful. Watching the rabbits in the adjacent fields as the sun begins to warm up the ground.
The railway embankment and the graveyard seem particularly good places for an owl to be.
How special
a week away watching the full moon rise behind the pine trees; white frost on the woodland paths all day where the sun didn't reach them; and then home again to find the beech tree surrounded by crocuses
Ah gorgeous. I have no crocuses in my garden and I must change that this year!
Lovely post and photos. I’m fascinated by the haar I’d never heard of it but when I lived in Norfolk we used to get similar little pockets of mist that seemed to come from nowhere.
This week has been all about the moon. I’ve loved seeing it out my kitchen window every morning first shining brightly in the dark and then paler but still beautiful in a pinky blue dawn sky. I wish I could capture it probably in a photo.
We have also had some wonderful sunsets here.
I’ve also noticed the sudden appearance of hearts in all the shops as we gear up for valentines. There are some truly beautiful chocolate creations in some windows - too pretty to eat 😊
Ah I can imagine that Paris does Valentine’s Day with a bit more style than elsewhere! Am imagining the chocolate creations
Oh and we saw Venus! Very excited to see it and identify it!
Fabulous!
This week we have had a large flock of migratory birds spending most of their days in the trees in my backyard. It is unusual for them to stay so long, but with snow on the ground north of us and the nice mild temperatures here who can blame them? I will miss them when they fly north. I’ll save my first open daffodil for the photo post. 💛
Looking forward to the daffodil!