Contingency plan

Nature is all very well,

but if you can’t see the bulbs for snow,

the birds are on strike,

the butterflies are nowhere,

the thought of sunshine is a joke,

and it’s not a day for baking,

then there’s always tea,

chocolate (not necessarily the posh kind),

tea and chocolate,

and a spot of Judy.

Yes, that’s a little better. Meanwhile Spring will arrive eventually.

New leaves

Lucienne Day’s ‘Leaf’

They represent fresh starts, which is of course the essence of Spring. It’s their colour that excites me - that zingy, acidic, freshest of greens. Horse chestnut, and beech are perhaps the loveliest, although walnut trees’ new leaves have a lovely dark pinkish colour and the new leaves of copper beech are stunning.

Image of horse chestnut leaves from here

Some even make good snacks - the new leaves of hawthorn are an excellent edible hedgerow food, with the countryside name of ‘bread and cheese’.

What I love most is the appearance of fully grown trees in a few weeks’ time. The individual baby leaves can’t be seen but the new growth creates a pale green mistiness, especially on beeches, that is beautiful.

Image borrowed from here

I’m afraid this is a shorter post - I’m recovering from my turn for the tummy situation.

Butterflies

We still have a little while to wait before butterflies emerge for Spring. Crocus, Snowdrop and daffodil are just beginning to flower now, but here in the UK we wont see butterflies until the warmest days of late March. One of the first will be the brimstone, with large buttery yellow, leaf-shaped wings. It is thought that this species was the original source of the name :: butter-fly. Here are a few brimstones doing a little love dance:

Around the same time, another of our prettiest butterflies will begin to fly: the Orange Tip. You will hear a blackbird singing during this film too:

Both films from Youtube

The Orange Tip’s favourite foods are the nectar of bluebells and cuckooflowers.  I think life might feel good if these were my dinner :

Image borrowed from here

Image borrowed from here

Blossom

I get a serious thrill when I see blossom appearing in Spring. Blackthorn, hawthorn,  apple, cherry it doesn’t really matter. There’s a lot of blackthorn, or wild plum, pictured below, near the pebbly cottage on the village green. The little pebbles like to nosh on the little plums in September but my favourite time is May when I peer at the tiny flowers.

Picture of blackthorn blossom borrowed from here

The blossom appears before the leaves and the dark branches covered in pure white flowers are so common in hedgerows that they’re often overlooked, but I think they’re beautiful.

Cherry blossom is significant in Japanese culture and art. It represents purity, simplicity and mortality and special cherry blossom viewing parties, or hanami, take place during the peak of blossom season. I hunted around for images of Yozakura, or Japanese cherry blossom and stumbled across this, traditiional Japanese calligraphy techniques being used to draw it. I was mesmerised.

Another tummy situation for littlest P - back soon for more Up the Hill to Spring. Next time, blossom.

Birds

Blue tit, painted by me aged 10

The image of a bird is enduringly popular in design, especially at the moment. It seems to symbolise nature, the countryside and of course, Spring.

Bird brooch by Viv at Hensteeth. Thankyou Viv, it’s absolutely beautiful.

Robins are one of the only birds who continue to sing all through the winter. This is one of the reasons they are associated with Christmas. I’d like to say I recorded this robin. I did chase one around for a good while this morning but by the time I’d pressed ‘record’ he had finished that particular verse. This was taken from Youtube.

Most garden birds lose their songs in winter. A week or two after Christmas though, several start to sing again.  Whilst out walking Hairy P this morning there was more birdsong than last week. It’s beginning to build towards the peak of the dawn chorus in May. Many birds have already paired off and I saw a pair of blue tits peeping into our nest box a day or two ago.

What’s the ultimate birdsong? I think it’s a nightingale. I’m cheating here - I recorded and blogged this last May, but I thought you might like to hear it again.

Our nightingales will return from Africa on around 20th May. I can hardly wait.

Bulbs

Very shortly after Christmas they’ll start peeping up. A few weeks later and a pound or two will buy you a pot of them when most other things in the garden are still hibernating. They are the first spots of colour to appear. Aconites pictured above have to be one of my favourites. I love the way they curl out of the ground.

I had a Christmas voucher, I went to the garden centre , I tinkered with a bit of compost, an old mug and a teacup that had lost its saucer. Little pebbles joined in and got a bit mucky. By the end I seemed to have made a bit of spring.

Hurray for bulbs.

Thankyou to Sharon, who let me snap the aconites in front of her house.

Sunshine.

View from our front door, dawn this morning.

Winter happens when the sun is further from the earth. Sunshine is less intense. It’s what many of us crave right now. As the earth shifts though, we are gaining more of it - around twenty minutes more per week. Twenty minutes!  It may be hidden behind murky grey clouds but it’s getting closer and warmer.

It is thought that sunshine entering the eye can boost serotonin levels, affecting mood. Most of us have felt it at times - that gloom that can descend in the winter. Grey day after grey, rainy day. We’re heading towards that time, though, in just a few weeks, when stepping out of the door brings a slightly different, greenish smell, the sun does have a slight warmth and turning your face towards it can bring a lift. When it happens…

…throw those curtains wide.

(Until then there’s Elbow, One day Like This, with the BBC Symphony).

Today I am starting a project. Inspired by both Tif at Dottie Angel and Judith Levine I am committing to a year of buying only hand-made or thrifted items for my wardrobe and home wherever possible. Tif calls it ‘a challenge of the utmost kind’. She is right. I am a woman who has a passion for shopping, but as a woman who has also hung up her briefcase and suit in order to raise little pebbles and pursue her small jewellery-making dream, the pursestrings are a little tighter than they once were. So, this challenge ticks two boxes, one green and one thrifty.

Before embarking on this daunting but exciting venture I had to do a little preparation:

I was a little worried about underthings. I audited my flimsies drawer. They were in fairly good order but Tif reassured me that I did not have to rely on coconut halves or crochet triangles anyway. Undies are essentials, so if pants are fit for no more than dusters then new ones are permitted.

I ferreted in my cupboards to see how the land lay in the clothing department. A very good thing happened. I found a pair of jeans I had forgotten about, bought on sale between the pebble babies. ‘These’ I thought, ’shall be my utmost jeans.’ I sewed a little something to them (in a slightly wobbly way) as a mark of make do-ness and to remind me to stay away, if I can, from alluring places. I also recalled a rather lovely recent purchase. Just £15 had bought me a floral sixties tunic dress.  I remembered the thrill of wearing vintage clothing. I was heartened.

Now for homeware. I would like some new curtains for the living room. I get the flutters about fabric with seedhead designs but they are now out of bounds. So, I bought some calico, some Pebeo fabric paints and had a little tinker. I plan to make my own seedhead-y fabric and then my own curtains. Watch this space.

Finally Val’s excellent tuition in the ways of sewing machine righteousness will help in the coming year. Pinafores for small pebbles and skirts for me are what I hope to make with Great Granny P’s machine. If I am tempted to fall off the thrifty wagon I shall ring Val or email Julia, the queen of (clothing) darts and try to make instead of buy.

Here goes…..

(P.S. Due to a tummy followed by a nose situation last week ‘up the hill to spring’ will start in a few days’ time)

I must admit I’m pretty keen for Spring to come along. I visited a blog yesterday that had a countdown to spring as the header. There were 49 days to go. That seems like rather too long a time to me. I have a little plan to try to post every day for a whole week starting on Monday 8th February. I’m going to cast about for heartening images, music and some things to make me laugh if I can. I might call it ‘up the hill to spring’. I’m hoping it’ll help me through the odd dreary day. If it helps anyone else then so much the better. After that week there will be only a little more than a month to go. I think that sounds much more encouraging. If anyone wants to join in next week feel free.

I have been rather lucky in finding some slightly more unusual vintage silver lockets recently. One is a little book engraved with leaves that opens to reveal two spaces for tiny photos and one, which frankly I’m in love with, is engraved with tiny flowers. I found a little engraved heart too. I have given each a little cluster of pearls, crystals and one of my silver flowers as I tend to do, and they’re now sitting in my shop.

I have been making lots of little silver birds for a bridal commission in the last week aswell. Bridesmaids, Aunts, Mum and Mother-in-law are all to receive one hanging from an ivory ribbon as a gift. They’re quite chirpy so I have made an extra one to brighten up the shelves of my shop along with the lockets.

Before the little pieces of silver wended their way onto chains and next to lockets though, I tinkered around and made the top picture. I think it’s Spring in silver land. I’m off to live there for a few days. The view looks nice.