The blue of the hyacinths

The blue of the hyacinths

The poet Rilke, writing to Elisabeth Ephrussi, told her to: ‘Look into the blue of the hyacinths.  And the spring!’  Well?  What are we waiting for?  Let’s go and find a hyacinth and then inhale its heady perfume! And meet their wild cousins, the...
Pale blue and gold

Pale blue and gold

Spring mornings, perfectly wrapped up in two glowing hues.   And here, enjoy another evocative combination of blue and gold. … the splendour of pale blue and gold spring mornings. Savour also a morning summed up in sound rather than colour.  Source: Gavin...
Begin afresh

Begin afresh

A soughing sense of spring surging in the dense-leaved trees.   You can hear the branches, brushing against each other in the dancing breeze, whispering like a wish in your ear, enticing you to begin afresh, afresh, afresh. Yet still the unresting castles threshIn...
The naming of plants – I

The naming of plants – I

Spontaneously, during this period of self-isolation we have been walking (and in Luiz’s case, biking) more. We are surrounded by countryside and can walk or bike for hours barely crossing paths with others, and if so, at well over the required two metres....
Pardon my barging in

Pardon my barging in

A beautiful, exuberant image of spring as an emotional and late arriving guest or friend, with its heavy showers transformed into ‘copious tears’.  Welcome, spring, tears and all.  We need them to help the summer grow. ‘As I write this spring barges...
Joyeuse Fête des Muguets

Joyeuse Fête des Muguets

Two things to share today, both lily-related.  I first heard of the ‘Fête des muguets’ when I was a teenager and was given a bunch of lilies of the valley. Yesterday in Geneva I was happy to see the shops stocked up with slender, small pots and bunches of...
Lent lilies and swallows’ time

Lent lilies and swallows’ time

A delicious description of the days of mid-April, when the wild narcissus, known as ‘lent lilies’, bloom. We’ve had daffodils and tiny narcissi sunnying the garden for weeks, visited by early-buzzing bees.Williamson’s account includes the...
The advent of May

The advent of May

There was a time when I could half read poetry in various ancient forms of French, provençal or Occitan, at least enough to have the sense of their meaning and loveliness.  This is one I noted decades ago, which is no time at all if you consider that it dates from the...
Buds bursting forth

Buds bursting forth

A lovely description of burgeoning vines, building momentum to burst into leaf. I particularly like the presence of a guardian angel standing by each leaf to help it grow. And note what is tucked away in the heart of each bud. ‘In each of these rose-green buds...
Winter was over

Winter was over

Until I read The Song of the Cid I thought it was just a Hollywood film with Charlton Heston.  In fact, it has some beautiful and tender lines about love, friendship and family, and here, about the advent of spring.  In the last month, we’ve seen that magical...

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