I remember when I was a very little girl there was a fairy story my mother read to me. It told of how the fairies painted the sticky buds on the trees to protect the baby leaves from the frost. I thought of that tale when the dog and I were out for our pre-dawn wander. The buds are swelling, and reaching up, sure enough the tight little buds are sticky with sap.
There were celandines in the wood this morning, a sheltered little patch that seems to have stolen a march on spring. Their tiny, glossy petals were barely beginning to unfold their fragility to the dawn, but the brilliant yellow that showed against the green offered a promise.
There is promise in the sunshine today too. Not much warmth yet, but the skies are blue and bright, with a possibility, a mere hint, of warmer days to come. As the frost recedes and the green shows more vividly across the landscape, there is a little vernal vibrancy tingling in the air.
The birds are busy collecting stray fluff and feathers, early lambs and the odd calf gambol in the fields or snuggle close to Mum for warmth. It is a typical moment of the turning of the tides. In spite of iced ponds and bitter winds, you can almost feel the sap rising.
I love these moments where you can see the turning of the wheel, the cycle of life in motion. Spring may slide into summer with barely a noise, but the change from winter to spring comes with a fanfare, a riot of colour. For now Spring is waiting in the wings. We, the audience, hear the occasional rustle, catch an odd whisper of the glimpse of a golden skirt as she prepares for the raising of the curtain. It is all poised, hushed and eager to begin.
It is a season of births and beginnings and we ourselves feel and respond to the changing seasons. It is a rather nice feeling to be aligned with the forces of Nature in this way, waiting for the sun to come in and light everything, painting it gold and filling it with warmth and life. It feels right that this should be the moment where tomorrow begins.
Sue Vincent is a Yorkshire-born writer with a camera. She has written a number of books, both alone and with Stuart France, exploring ancient myths, the mysterious landscape of Albion and the inner journey of the soul. She is owned by a small dog who also blogs. Find her at scvincent.com and on Twitter @SCVincent.
So nice to see you posting here today, Sue, and what a lovely message for us, too. Of course, since it’s 80 degrees here in central Florida today, and I’m overheated, even in shorts and loose t-shirt, I’m having to dig deep to remember what a spring day actually feels like. However, your vibrant descriptions brought it all back to me again. Beautiful photos and beautiful words. Hope you’ll feel free to pop in ANY time you’d like. You’ll always be welcome. 🙂
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I got a taste of summer around noon… it was actually warm! That’s usually as good as it gets here…but spring is such a lovely season in England 🙂
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It’s lovely here, too, Sue. This year, it was on February 7. 😀 😀 😀
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Humph! And in Scotland! Today was glorious.
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But who knows what next? 😉
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Today it is grey and wet – as if the sun hadn’t appeared yesterday!
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Cold and grey here too x
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It’s been very nice indeed, Sue. Yesterday I went for a long walk and I was thinking the same. But it’s chillier than one thinks at times! Lovely pictures!
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It was a glorious day here, but very cold tonight again. Hoping that it is a sign of slightly warmer days to come 🙂
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Lovely to see your pics, Sue.
I’m on the south coast, and it was truly glorious down here today – up to 17 degrees! For the first time this year I looked at our boggy fields and decided they’d need rolling soon – that really means spring is on the way 😀
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I contemplated cutting the grass… it could use a heavy roller though,between the moles and the dog, you can’t call it a lawn! Another couple of warm days and it will have to be done 🙂
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Wait. What is the rolling you two speak of??? We go from the dead grass of winter, to tall and green, in about 2 days, and then we just mow. You’re gonna have to explain what the heck rolling does. (Of course, bear in mind, in Florida, it’s all sand, anyway. No rich loam, or the like.) I suspect a heavy roller would just sink. 😯
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Moles, worms and rain ‘warp’ the land… a heavy concrete or waterfilled roller squashes it flat again and eventually makes a patch of grass into a lawn 😉
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Well, that’s a chore I’m happy to do without. We do have to mow weekly most of the year, but Mark and I aren’t fans of big lawns. They are so water and fertilizer intensive in Florida, it’s not really healthy for the environment. So, we’ve done lots of brick pathways, and big beds of flowers and shrubs, instead. Much friendlier to this environment, where half of the fertilizers wash into the streams and lakes and cause algae blooms, etc. Different land, different problems. 🙂 But no rolling required. 😀
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I’m all for big flower beds here too…but Ani likes somewhere to run 🙂
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My little guys have fun chasing squirrels and lizards up and down the curvy brick paths, but it wouldn’t be perfect for more active, or larger, breeds. The dachshunds spend half their time nosing around beneath bushes, hoping I won’t notice them digging holes. 😀 And the cats are indoor animals. Most of the critters in my back yard are wild, and happy there. Birds by the gazillion, a few harmless and very pretty snakes, lots of lizards, and then the wretched squirrels, minions of Satan, every one of them! Grrrr. This year, they at busy eating all of my loquats, before I even get a taste.
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I just have cows and moles…and the cows tend to stay on the other side of the fence 🙂 There are the occasional vistirs though…the rabbits, hedgehogs and foxes that wander in (much to Ani’s disgust) but the birds are the best, with the resident robin and always the red kites overhead.
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All I can tell you, is 17 degrees is lower than we get here ALL winter, even if we have a freeze. When we do, it will drop into the 20’s overnight, and by the next day, is usually back up to at least 65, and heading higher. I’m lucky if I get to use our fireplace twice between Christmas and the end of January, and after that, it’s bathing suit time, again.
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We made it to 14C here today… which is about 57F and a nice warm day 😉 Almost too warm to contemplate rolling a lawn… an integral part of making one (it takes a few hundred years to get a ‘proper’ English lawn). They stay vivid green all winter and grow regardless. Mine is a bit squishy at present, being on clay and in a valley surrounded by chalk hills. It seems to be growing very fast at the moment with all the water…
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We are on clay, and it’s horse pastures we need to roll – the horses poach the land until it turns into a quagmire. Every spring comes the fun of trying to pick the day when the land is hard enough for the roller (a big metal drum towed behind a tractor) not to sink, and yet not so dry you can’t press out the hoof marks.
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Good lord… ad my poor lawn sees like a major undertaking!
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Ha ha! Try facing 20 odd acres of heavily poached horse paddocks. Oh, and I have a lawn too, but that’s more moss than grass these days!
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No wonder you are so slim 🙂
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Lol, I’m never still, that’s for sure!
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Me neither…but the waistline doesn’t seem to notice 🙂
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Ha, I knew that one but I’ve finally found an eating programme that works 😀. I’ve lost a stone and a half in 3 months 😀😀😀
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If I eat any less, I’ll go into starvation mode… and still I lose nothing 😦 Maybe I just need new scales …
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I’m eating MORE and losing weight. It’s what you eat and how often. Every 3 hours, 70% protein and 30% fat and carbs, every meal to fit in a desert bowl. It speeds up your metabolic rate and you burn calories faster.
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I have a feeling it is the metabolic rate that is my problem… I go for litle and often, but tend to fail on the latter!
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Yes, you almost have to set an alarm reminder, I know I need to keep a close eye on the time, but it’s working where nothing else ever has done. 3 hourly. Mostly protein. Go. Try!
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I will 🙂
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👍
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The promise of spring sounds good. We’ve had rain for a few days, then the cold snap hit and again it clear and crisp. No flowers reaching for the sun yet. At least, not to my knowledge.
Love pictures, Sue. Thanks so much for sharing. ❤ ❤ ❤
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It was a glorious day, Tess and I couldn’t resist taking the camera out to play. Lots more springpictures tomorrow at mine 😉 ❤
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I love your robins. We have robins, too, but they aren’t related. They are very nice, handsome birds, but they are actually thrushes. Your wee robins are so cute!! Would enjoy a birding trip to your part of the world one day. 🙂 Will be looking forward to your pictures tomorrow. I’ll be out a good part of the day, but hopefully, I’ll have some time for blog reading. 🙂
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Yes, our robins are cute, intelligent and fearless… it is very easy to build a relationship with them 🙂
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Outstanding. Anything to cheer up our dull but early spring days here. Thank YOU. 😀
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A bit of blue sky goes a long way 🙂
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What a beautiful post. It’s still winter in my neck of the woods, but I feel like I’ve been touched by a fresh breath of spring! 🙂
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It was wonderful to get blue sky and colour back for a while 🙂
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Lovely post from Sue. It has been lovely today with real warmth in the sunshine. We’re wandering around muttering about how, after an incredibly mild winter, we can’t possibly have got away with it and expecting the worst aspects of winter have yet to come!
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I know… spring has definitely sprung, but since when has that stopped the British weather from changing its mind?
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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Thanks Jaye x
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I’m reading this early Friday morning, watching the snow fall out of gray leaden clouds. I am SO READY for spring — but so are the songbirds, who were singing at 5:30 this morning. I filled up the birdfeeder so they can survive…til spring. Lovely post. xo
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Hopefully the weather will warm a bit soon!
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Reblogged this on Sue Vincent's Daily Echo.
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A lovely post, Sue. Your descriptions are really beautiful. Our high today in South Africa was 23 degrees and we thought it was freezing [smile].
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I’d be melting 🙂
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I enjoyed reading this–immensely! (And the photos are really fine, too.)
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Thanks, Rae 🙂
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This is my favourite season of the year. When the earth stirs and wakes up and everythign come to life again. It’s a joy 🙂
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It is, though the wait for the winter grey to fade seems a long one this year!
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Lovely post, Sue. One week (and a day) until the Vernal Equinox. 🌼 Spring will have sprung in all its splendor. I love your line about spring sliding into summer but winter giving way with such fanfare. ❤
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Thanks, Sarah… I’m counting the days till a little more warmth here 🙂
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So lovely to see Sue and her beautiful prose here Marsh. Sue has definitely taken us through a grand walk of the promise of spring. ❤ 🙂
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Thanks, Debby… a love dew drenched morning here today, with a hint of sunshine 🙂
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Certainly a promise of spring. 🙂
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Feels like it today 🙂
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It was a treat to find this beautiful post the other day, and so many have enjoyed it. It was a grand walk, indeed! 🙂
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🙂
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🙂 🙂
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