May 1st - more signs of spring!

Well, the rain is back, and with it some new arrivals!
The folk poem goes:

"The Cuckoo comes in April,

He sings his song in May ..."

and sure enough this morning on Mayday, I heard him for the first time this year, his voice echoing across from the wood!  And then, the first swallow I have seen skittered across thge sky... though of course

"One swallow does not a summer make"!

Or, indeed, a spring as the present rate!!!

I've often wondered ... where DID swallows perch before there were telegraph wires?



30th April ... last day of April already!

Well, with the last day of April, the rain has finally stopped, at least for a few hours!  It seems as though everyone is out and about enjoying the warmth of the sunshine .... what is left of the apple blossom is in danger of being nibbled by curious visitors ... who can blame them?

29th April ... back to the woods - again!

Oh dear, it really has been so wet underfoot, that I am afraid that I have not been to the woods much this last few weeks... ironic, really, as we are officially in a drought!  Ever since THAT was announced it has been pouring with rain!!  Maybe they should have done it earlier!
Anyway, spring, of course, continues to spring whether I am there or not and on the edge of the woods the apple trees are coming into blossom most beautifully!  I do hope that the rain does not wash off all the pollen before the poor bees get a chance to enjoy it - not to mention pollinate the flowers and ensure a good crop of apples in the autumn ...

A few years ago, on the village green - where we also have apple trees - there was a wonderful occurrence one April evening, when a swarm of glow-worms were blown over from the Continent and were attracted to the apple blossom.  It was a strange and beautiful sight, to see tiny blobs of light shimmering in and around the flowers.  Magical!

 

6th April - Good Friday! In the family way ...

The woods are alive with birdsong and chatter!  Even the pheasants, who rarely raise more than a startled trot are in the mood for love!  The male was displaying fervently to his lady love ...



The female was thinking of the family to come ...

... and making a nest with feathers ...

and I am looking forward to seeing more of theses ...

Cute or what???

29th March - oh, I love the spring!

Every day there is a new treat to be found in the wood, along the river bank and in the fields ... and I see so many of them now that I walk the puppy at least twice a day ... much more of this and I'll be so fit, I'll be dangerous!

Today butterflies began to appear to enjoy the fine spring weather ... I've seen brimstones already, but now the first yellow tips are out and about!  The underside of their wings is as delicate and pretty as the top!  Down by the river, beside the wood, they were dancing in the lambs' tails and catkins by the waterside! 

Blossom magic ... 24th March, summertime begins!

How often it seems that when we reach those magical dates ... the spring equinox and then the beginning of British Summertime ... the weather lets us down and it feels like winter again!  Not this year!

Over the last few days of warm sunshine and chilly nights, the blossom has come out, the spring flowers are beginning to make a real show and everything is warming up beautifully!  Even the sky is that delicate shade of blue that only seems to appear in early spring.  I suppose it's appropriate that such scenes should be captured most effectively in "seed" stitch ...it's certainly all about growing seeds out there in the garden and the wood!



Seed stitch sunshine!



19th March ... frosty, then warm!

Dawn rose on a frosty spring morning, but soon the sun began to warm up ... and in the most proctected corner of the wood the hawthorn bushes are beginning to come into leaf, and even bud!  Once the coming of spring starts is seems to move with incredible speed, especially with a few days of sunshine to help things along!