Spring at last?

Today it really felt like spring has finally arrived. The temperature gauge in my car this afternoon said it was a balmy 15 degrees! I know better than to trust the fickle British weather but it was nice to enjoy it while it lasts.

I sat outside to eat my breakfast. With my eyes closed, my face turned up towards the sun and the seagulls calling overhead, it could have been mid-summer by the sea*. How my spirits soared! It really is miraculous how much happier and more energised the sun makes you feel.

* we're actually about 30-40 miles from the sea as a seagull flies but they're attracted here by the local lake.

I'm hoping the energy from the sun persuades the purple-sprouting broccoli to put in an appearance. The plants were decimated by caterpillars but it turns out they're pretty resilient. I left them in the ground over the winter and they've started to grow. No sign of edible shoots yet but you never know.

The sun has definitely energised the birds as they were chirping their hearts out and getting frisky. This male sparrow seems to have claimed the nest box on my neighbour's wall and was doing his best to entice the ladies. (Sorry for the rubbish picture but it was right at the edge of my zoom)

In my garden, the magpies are gathering nesting material. They could make life easy for themselves and scoop up any number of twigs littering the ground but, no, they're trying to pull fresh ones directly off the tree.

Overhead, four Canada geese were floating down to land and the vibration of the air through their feathers made it sound like they were on a zip wire.

I was also observing birds in the latest issue of Stitch magazine. I actually bought it for another pattern but this one caught my eye too and there are more gorgeous designs inside. They're by Chloe Redfern and there are other bird patterns on her website.

This weekend we've also been enjoying films. Last night we watched Lady in the Van and really enjoyed it, though anything with Maggie Smith is a pretty sure thing. She was brilliant at playing the eccentric Miss Shepherd.

Today we went to see Allegiant, the latest in the Divergent series. It had been universally panned in the reviews (probably written by people who aren't the target audience) but we thought it was great. Not as good as the previous two films though.

I've also been cooking and made some fava to go with lamb chops. It was one of our favourite recipes during my cookery challenge and was just as tasty this time. I loved the pattern the reflection of the peas made in my metal dish.

And, of course, I've been continuing with the kirigami. I think the flowers and leaves design was my favourite. This week also saw the introduction of the weaving technique, which you can see in the bottom two designs.

I wonder what next week will bring? x

Happy Mother's Day

Today has been Mother's Day here in the UK. We popped round to see my Mum this morning to give her a homemade card.

Her present was the latest book from Queen Mary Berry. It's always good buying Mum cookery books as you know you'll get to taste the results at some point :)

My own presents from Chickpea were these colourful flowers and a craft magazine - she knows me well.

This afternoon we decided to go for a walk as the weather was so lovely and warm. The clocks springing forward last night seems to have brought with them a real taste of spring and we saw bees, butterflies and this sweet little ladybird.

The sides of the path were carpeted in wild garlic. As I have a recipe in mind, I'm hoping it doesn't go over too quickly and before I have a chance to harvest some.

There was lots of celandine dotted around too.

And some very vocal robins.

When we arrived back, I sat and read in the sunshine in the garden and then worked on some quilting. A lovely way to spend Mother's Day.

However, I've saved my most exciting news until last. I have some leave coming up just after Easter and had been mulling over what to do. This morning I finally made up my mind and booked a holiday. In just over a month, we'll be standing under Juliet's balcony in fair Verona! Cue jumping up and down in excitement!!!

I'm off to practice my Italian but will be back tomorrow with the Scavenger Hunt. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Ciao!

February's fair maids

After making the Remembrance Day poppy and the Tudor rose for Lancashire Day, I thought it would be nice to make a different brooch to mark the changing of the seasons and traditions. It's taken me a while to get around to it but the snowdrops growing in my parents' garden gave me the inspiration.

At first, my plan was to make something 3D in felt which, in my fantasies, would have looked something like these gorgeous examples by CozyFelt (left) and Olga Voloshchenko (right). Sadly though the reality of my skills meant I had to aim for something simpler. I played around with felt and fabric for a while but nothing looked quite right. Back to the drawing board and to cross stitch.

I found a pattern in my magazine stash and settled down last Sunday with a cup of tea and a couple of pieces of Scottish tablet to stitch.

And this was the result! I tried lots of different settings but this simple border of green and white felt worked the best. There's a couched silver thread around the linen to give a touch of sparkle. Not what I envisaged at the start but I'm pretty happy with it.

That wasn't the end of the snowdrops though.

While looking for ideas and patterns, I came across lots of information about snowdrops, including this lovely, little poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Many many welcomes,

February fair-maid,

Ever as of old-time,

Solitary firstling,

Coming in the cold time,

Prophet of the gay time,

Prophet of the May time,

Prophet of the roses,

Many many welcomes,

February fair-maid!

I thought it summed up beautifully the hope and anticipation that these first flowers of the year bring.

The snowdrop, in purest white arraie,

First rears her hedde on Candlemas daie

I also discovered that today is Candlemas Day when a blessing of the church candles for the coming year would have been held. Snowdrops are also known as both Candlemas bells and Mary's tapers. You can see in this photo how they might have come by the latter name as they push their flame-like white tips into the light.

Candlemas marks the midway point between the Winter Solstice (shortest day) and the Spring Equinox (20 March) and coincides with the pagan Celtic feast of Imbolc. As you know, I love a good tradition and don't want to miss an excuse for feasting, so I thought it would be fitting to mark the occasion with something to eat.

It wasn't hard to find inspiration in that humble staple, milk. Imbolc translates as 'ewe's milk' and the scientific name for snowdrops, Galanthus, comes from the Greek for milk (gala) and flower (anthos). As I've had a bit of a poorly tummy this week, a warm milky pudding sounded just the thing. I did consider making galatopita (being Greek and milky) but instead settled on that English classic, rice pudding, laced with a splash of amaretto.

Who would have thought that the simple little snowdrop could provide so much inspiration?

Before I go , I have one last traditional saying.

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will take another flight.
If Candlemas Day be cloud and rain
Winter is gone and will not come again.

I don't know what it's been like in your corner of the world today, but here it's been a beautiful sunny day. Looks like we're in for a long winter :(

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Do you ever find that some posts come together really easily and others you have to labour over? This is definitely the latter. I had such a mix of ideas and inspiration it was hard to bring that muddled mass together. I hope I got there in the end. x

Flowers, foliage and feathers

After thinking that Spring would never arrive, there's so much around to photograph at the moment that I wanted to capture and record it. Here are a few photos taken over the last couple of weeks.

This lovely tree is in a neighbour's garden, though I'm not entirely sure what it is.

Camelia in another neighbour's garden.

There's no such thing as too many cherry blossom photos at this time of year! This one was taken over the Bank Holiday weekend when we had the gorgeous weather and blue skies.

And this was taken yesterday. What a difference a week makes as all the blossoms are now in full bloom. A pity then that the weather and light hasn't been kind so that I could get a decent photo.

Lighting up another local garden was this golden berberis.

The one in my own garden is much more delicate.

These aquilegia are also in my garden and line the fence along the driveway. They're not as decorative as other aquilegia I've seen, until you look underneath.

And then you can see all the dainty, delicate beauty of the petals.

The foliage is just as lovely at the moment, all fresh and bright green. I love how alchemilla gathers raindrops into little bubbles of water.

I spotted this fern near work and could have used it for the 'curl' category in the Scavenger Hunt if I'd seen it in time.

Down by the lake there are lots of willow and I've taken so many photos it was really hard to choose. I loved the combination of the bright yellow and the blue sky in this one though.

And the fluffy buds in this one.

There's also a lot of activity on the lake at the moment. Great-Crested Grebes stop by from time to time but usually only two at the most. This spring we've had three. They don't hang around for long though and don't breed here.

There's only one swan on the lake after having nine at one point. S/he looked so beautiful lit up by the setting sun.

For the first time in many years, a pair of Moorhens are nesting. We're eagerly waiting to see if they're successful. I'll have to figure out what to call the babies by then - moorchicks?

There's not just water birds around the lake: there are several pied wagtails darting around on the shoreline.

But, of course I couldn't leave you without a duck update. This handsome chap was on my fence one morning. He and his lady friend are regular visitors at the moment and I wonder if they're the same ones who keep sitting on the roof.

Duckling sightings are increasing. This Mum had 14 fluffy bundles. I don't know whether I should tell you that a couple of days later, there were only 11.

Ducklings are lively little things!

But eventually they need to rest and have a cuddle with Mum. I was amused and delighted watching these ducklings clambering over each other, pushing their Mum this way and that trying to get under her wings. So sweet!

Looks like they're getting a little too big to fit: Mother duck can barely sit down!

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Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. It's been pretty wet here but it didn't bother us too much as our activities have been mostly inside: the theatre yesterday (a play you probably won't know 'Can't Pay, Won't Pay') and the new Star Trek movie today - both excellent. I've also started a new knitting project which I'll share at some point.

Finally, thank you all so much for the lovely, lovely comments lately - they really do make my day and make me laugh a lot of the time too! And also welcome to my new readers and followers - I'm really enjoying meeting you all. x

Bank Holiday weekend

What a glorious day it's been! In fact the whole weekend has been lovely with only a light period of drizzle yesterday. As you know from yesterday's post, most of the weekend was taken up with preparations for Chickpea's birthday - cleaning, cake making, food shopping - but I also managed to slip in some gardening. On Saturday I potted on some of the plants which had started to outgrow their containers. The petunias are really ready for planting out but I want to be sure the chance of frost has gone first - can you believe I still had to scrape ice off my car windscreen one day this week?

The courgettes are coming along nicely as are the sugar snap peas and carrots. Still no sign of the thyme or yellow beans though.

Today I did more serious gardening and dug over the border where I'll be planting the peas. I also dug up a large clump of crocosmia near the house and am hoping no bulbs were left behind - it's a complete menace, spreads itself everywhere and is taking over in quite a few places in the garden. I would probably have done more but my back was starting to ache and I didn't want to push it.

Time for a cup of tea and to admire the cherry which is just starting to blossom. By next weekend I think it'll be in full bloom. Look at that sky - not a cloud!

While I was sat with my brew, I noticed a hoverfly, er, hovering nearby and remembered a photo by Nina from Tabiboo that I'd been admiring that morning. Out with the camera and here's what  I managed - not as good as Nina's but insects are hard!

In the afternoon I decided to go for a walk to pursue an idea for one of the Scavenger Hunt themes for May. It took me down this footpath next to the golf course which I've never walked down before. Lots of birds were singing and darting about. I spotted some chaffinches and blue tits but they were just too quick.

And then I got lucky and a long-tailed tit came fluttering down the hedge and posed right next to me. Such sweet faced little birds.

I also managed to catch these two goldfinches purely by chance - pointing the camera in the vague direction I'd seen some fluttering and hoping for the best! We hardly used to see goldfinch in this area but there are quite a few flocks around at the moment for some reason.

There were lots of small tortoiseshell and cabbage white butterflies about too but I was thrilled to see this peacock - the first of the year. I had to creep up ever so quietly and then wait patiently for it to open its wings.

After taking the Scavenger Hunt photo - one down, eleven to go! - rather than heading back the way I came, I decided to go via the wooded walk I took you on last week to see how much had changed.

This is more or less the same shot as last time: much greener though still lots more to come.

There were more flowers around, like these forget-me-nots.

And some white bluebells amongst the blue and the nettles - had to be very careful taking this one! Well, I think they're white bluebells - my flower guides are getting a good workout at the moment!

There were also drifts of golden celandines glowing in the dappled sunlight.

And the stream was sparkling and dancing in the sun too. 

On the way home I passed by the house selling honey. I actually remembered to call in last week and we've been having our teaspoon of pale golden Lancashire honey every day. The guy selling it said we were a bit late for it to have an effect on our hayfever as you're meant to take it through the winter to keep your body in touch with pollen. However, we're giving it a go and I'll give you an update later in the summer if I remember.

And that's it, a lovely bank holiday weekend almost over. Not much crafting went on, though I did finish my Elizabeth Wall quilt and will share that with you as soon as I've put some words around the pictures. I also have more flower photos as there were just too many to show here. Plus a duckling update :-)

For now though, as I missed it last night because of the party, I'm off to catch up on Once Upon a Time with a glass in hand. x