Monday 2 January 2023

Spring?

What?   caw the rooks as they sail over at half past seven after a week of dark mornings.   "you must be mad", they say in their language as they sail over in the distance, easy to spot in the apricot sky of early morning.  Free and joyous to be so carefree - too early to start "sticking" to  mend last year's nest or to even think about it, no heavy rain like the last week. no ghastly wind to battle against;  'sufficient unto the day' is what they would say if we could speak the same language'.

No. let's face it - the central heating has switched itself off and the sunshine is pouring through my window - but on January 2nd nobody is daft enough to say  Spring is in the air.   I might have a snow drop or two out and any day now Si is going to post the glorious aconites he posts every year - but neither flower shouts Spring - more 'yes we know its cold and there could easily be snow to come but we remember the phrase - 'if Winter comes can Spring be far behind?   It is bred into the bulbs!

So let us enjoy each day we get like this and - hopefully - there will be enough of them to carry us through. 

27 comments:

Ellen D. said...

Glad you got such lovely weather! I loved your description of an apricot sky! Perfect, Pat!

Sue in Suffolk said...

Hooray for a dry bright morning after a week of wet.

Have a good day

Tom Stephenson said...

There always seems to be a bit of a weather shock which comes just when you think winter is over. I think it even shocks the birds.

Jill said...

Those sunny winter days get us through. Reminding us of spring, just as you described.

thelma said...

Ne'er cast a clout, to May is out. Nursing tomato plants passed May was always a worry!

JayCee said...

A perfectly poetic post today. Just suits the lovely bright weather.

Rachel Phillips said...

Thank goodness your post went the way it did. I was thinking for a horrible moment that you were suggesting Spring is here when I saw the heading with the question mark. Yes, winter is here and we have the two cold months ahead if us, January and February and into March. It is clear and bright here today but much colder.

Ana Dunk said...

Here in Michigan USA the official spring is of course March 20th, but REAL spring does not show its lovely face until at least the end of April. Tomato plants dare not be planted until Memorial Day weekend, the last weekend in May. Some hardy souls may plant cold weather crops like lettuce, radishes, etc., around the end of April, but I feel germination is slow.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Snowdrops budding in our local wood already. Spring always seems to me to be a series of unrelated signs which appear independently of each other over the next several months.

Susan said...

Just when we think we can't take any more cold, dampness, snow, ice: We get sunshine, warmth, a blue sky, and birds cawing. This break in Winter cheers us on toward Spring.

Debby said...

It may not be spring yet, but those little spots of encouragement will carry us along to it, won't they. I loved this post.

Barbara Anne said...

Unseasonable warmth is a gift to enjoy! Spring is surely ahead, but not yet and this preview is a joy. Today the high temperature will be about 20*C and the sun is shining. How sweet it is, for me, for you, and for the early morning rooks!

Hugs!

Librarian said...

I know the warm spring-like temperatures won't last - by mid-week we're to expect a sharp dip, and who knows what the rest of January, February and possibly March have in store; as Rachel says, these are the cold months, and indeed they are often much colder in my part of the planet than December.
But...
...daylight is already lasting longer, and today on my after-work walk I heard a blackbird's beautiful song; just the one, but it sounded like a promise to me - spring WILL come eventually. Also, the hazel shrubs and trees are covered in their little yellow "würstle" (as we call them in my local Swabian dialect, as they do resemble tiny sausages).

Rachel Phillips said...

And we call them lambs tails, Meike, because they resemble lambs tails. Interesting that you call the same thing wurstles after little sausages.

gz said...

Those days...a relief! Sent to keep us going until Spring really arrives

Anonymous said...

Sunny days in winter are a gift! It is coldish here but the sun is out and I just noticed rosebuds on one of the rose bushes. Usually this doesn’t happen until March. The roses generally go dormant from November until then.

Anonymous said...

Still in Summer here, and I tend my tomato plants well and the forming tomatoes are looking good.
I feel sad for the gardeners who have lost years of work in the continuing roof-high floodings in this country. I put most of my garden in pots now, and have taken my white hydrangea in and out of the house to 'save it' from the heat and hot winds recently.
Our birds carry on with their routines, but New Year's Eve fireworks recently saw swathes of screeching white Corellas take to the skies at midnight.- Pam, Aust.

gmv said...

This is such a cheerful post :)

Heather said...

One of my neighbours walks past my window and back again during her short morning walk. If I see her I open the window for a quick chat, and we both agreed that we must just make the most of each lovely day to help us through the others. A beautiful day today, bulbs pushing up here and there, but we all know there is more winter to come.
For some reason there have been large flocks of noisy seagulls here recently. I live not far from the River Severn which may account for it.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Hooray for the sun, it can raise a smile in the heart.

Jean Jennings said...

I just wanted to drop by from a small village in central Iowa in the US (my husband and I both come from generations of farmers!) to tell you how much I enjoy your writing. And tonight, I’m feeling a connection to the Dales as I watch a public television show ‘Walking the Herriot Way’. I wish I’d paid more attention to the locations you mention in your posts. In any case, the walk looks absolutely beautiful and I’m adding it to our bucket list! Also adding his books to my reading list.

Best wishes for a gentle 2023, for all of us.

Jean Morgan Jennings

Karen said...

Greetings from Ontario Canada! It feels like spring here too! My dear crows, who I call family, are hanging about my rural yard. They are probably wondering why I haven't added any fresh snacks to the compost pit lately. We had a big dump of snow right at Christmas so there is a big snowbank prohibiting that until the snow melts for good.

Brenda said...

In the 80’s here…enjoyed your blog last year and look forward to this year.l.thank you.

Cro Magnon said...

We have 'swathes' of Daffs in the churchyard.

Frances said...

It is nice to be reminded that spring will come.....it is gloomy and wet here this morning. You have also reminded me of my favourite poem. " Where are the snowdrops, said the sun". Do you know it? Written in the 1800s by Annie Matheson.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you all for your lovely newsy replies - I get such pleasure reading tham - I shall look up that poem Frances = and Pam I have never heard of Corellas so I shall look them up too.

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

I hadn't heard our neighborhood guard crows calling since mid Autumn. I believe they must have been away for awhile, but yesterday our crows were cawing and cawing with intense excitement. I thought I would check and see what they were doing. They were in a huge uproar because the home of our widowed next door neighbor, who passed away a few weeks ago, had relatives parked in the driveway going in and out of the neighbor's home.

Our neighbor had many lovely statues and plantings in her yard and the crows would go to her yard and they loved to drink out of the bird bath there and sit on the head of one of the statues that was a beautiful lady. When that crow family had chicks they would bring them to that yard to walk around and explore the statues and plants. The baby crows learned to fly there. As I was looking out the window one day one of the crows was flying from her house to our yard and a hawk attacked and tore one of the crow's feathers out but the crow escaped with the help of other crows. After that the crows had not returned to our neighbor's yard, but apparently they have been watching over the yard even though they no longer go there. They kept cawing and fussing until her relatives left and then the crows became quieter, though they are always cawing a bit about something. They knew that the people there were not our neighbor, but they were carrying items out of her home, and the crows didn't like that.