Joys of Spring

bagitha Do you approve of my new name?

Of course! Was it me (I? ... nah) who put it in capitals to begin with? You're a capital lady!

It most certainly was dear bagitha...

The last time I heard a cuckoo was about12years ago, it was on the Venetian island of torcello.
Never heard one since!

soop you've gone all quiet!

Carol...I'm out of my bed all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Isn't it a glorious day

Soop I just meant quiet because your letter have gone lower case!

Carol Hushhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

This afternoon I walked
And walked
In a landscape made alive
With tousled winter wheat,
Which glistened from rain and wind and sun
Shot through with rape
Vibrant with acid yellow
Which held in it's midst
A solitary oak,
Old
Unmoving
And deeply rooted.

I like to think this oak had seen it all before
And will see it all for many years to come.

Butter For sure, you are a poetess...

butter that conjours up sights, sounds and smells of a lovely walk

I think that it's better soop now you don't shout at us!

We have had a cuckoo around for a couple of weeks now here in the South East, the rhyme I remember from hundreds of years ago is:

The Cuckoo comes in April,
it sings its song in May,
in the middle of June it changes its tune
and in July it flies away.

And a pair of swallows have just arrived, this time last year I remember listening to the very first nightingale I have ever heard but I haven't heard it yet - just hope that it comes back

yoga If only I'd been told some time ago...never mind, all's well that ends well
I like nighingales. Not too sure about cuckoos.

Thanks supersoop and carol. It was a wonderful and thought provoking walk.

butty . I love oaks. I have two baby ones in my garden that I am protecting from the deer. The big oaks (pedunculate) around here are bursting into leaf, but my babies are a bit slow.

I'm pleased you're protecting your baby oaks, bagitha, you're good at that.

My dd planted an acor abou 34 years ago. It was meant to be a bonsai. It is now 15ft. Tall at the bottom of my garden. The jays love it! Some bonsai!

A year before we moved here, I saw some trees in pots lying in a ditch by a country road. I daren't take them, thinking somebody was going to pick them up. But 3 months later they were still there- and then the next Summer I stopped again, and they were all dry and dying - so I took them home. Watered them and put them in the trailor with other plants we were taking over to our new house in Switzerland. The 3 silver birch did well - but 1 died in the first winter. The 3 rowans are doing fantastically. And the oak has survived two harsh winters (we are high in the mountains) - with the base covered with leaves, the trunk wrapped in garden fleece and the head covered with a fleece bag, in as sheltered a place as possible. We are too high for oaks officially, but I hope that with protection, it will get used to our climate and continue to thrive. Bless his cotton socks. Whatever happens, it is all bonus time as it was dying in that ditch. All green fingers crossed.

Near where we lived in the UK, they built was of those monster 24/7 ginormous Tesco - and all the countryside around was bulldozed, bar one huge ancient and magnificent oak - now stranded in a green square in the car park. I really feel for that tree and wonder each time what it is 'thinking'?

Two female sparrows with beaks full of dry grass
Perched in my golden bush,
The box-leaved cotoneaster,
Eyes turning this way and that,
Checking for danger: is anyone looking?
They fly up to the sloping slates
Of the mossy, lichen-covered bay window roof
And from there a near vertical flight to their
(no, sorry, the house martins' nests)
Under the eaves.
On the steep ground of the front bank
A robin is doing the same:
Gathering nesting material and flying in cautious jumps
Via the yellow-flowering azalea
To the hole in the bank behind some fern
And a clump of primroses.

bagitha Isn't nature simply wonderful.

The caterpillars haven't really got going yet, but bagitha has metamorphosed . Can you see my wings? angel fairy [bluebottle emoticon]

heard the cuckoo the last few mornings - mind you it was very early as it was the dog's comfort break and we were both standing outside. I love this time of the year (wish it was a bit warmer though). Usually the cuckoo gets into his stride in May when he will sing all day

Yes, we hear cuckoos a lot too, though not uet this year. Also buzzards. I love their haunting cry.

yet

Bags Is it chilly where you are? I believe that there is a dusting of snow on the Paps.

Rory [you know who] has taken to his apartment. It appears that willing wifelets are few and far between. He was waiting on the doorstep for his breakfast. J opened the door, Rory barged into the kitchen, leapt up on to the sink unit and started eating the food as it was being extracted from the tin. After which, he yowled [noisily] for 'seconds' and, having polished the dish to a prisitne shine, washed his whiskers [briefly] stretched [gently] and went back to his bed [huffily]. We looked at each other and giggled...'He treats this place just like a hotel'