And all of a sudden, spring. The blackbirds are singing their hearts out before sunrise and the woodpeckers are screeching and hammering. And there's what my father-in-law would call that good stretch in the evenings now.
All week the cranes have been returning and it's such a welcome sight and sound. This year more so than ever. When I heard the first flock, late afternoon on Monday, we ran outside to watch the enormous flocks high above in their V-shaped formations flying in from the southwest and I noticed that all the neighbours were out there with us and we all were gazing up and clapping and waving. I got on my bicycle and cycled along with them for a while. It was just the best thing.
In the garden it is winter aconite week. I found just the one snowdrop struggling between the thyme bushes, the last of hundreds which, according to the gardener, is due to shrews eating the bulbs and, according to my own humble opinion - which I wisely keep to myself -, due to the gardener digging up the bulbs because he is not fond of them, their messy green leaves taking up space after too short of a bloom. The gardener hates waste. We disagree.
There's just a bit left to harvest, like these fat fellows, which I roasted (cubed) with a bit of miso butter and honey.
Next will be crocus and grape hyacinth week and before we can take a breath, the full flowering orgy will be upon us. I have been reading about mast years and now have great hopes for the hazel and various plum trees this year after last summer's dismal harvest.
Meanwhile seed propagation is getting out of hand, we transplanted the first batches and they are now happy in the cold frame and the greenhouse but as always, there's more and even more and soon I will have to do a ring-a-round for takers.
The grandchild asked this morning, can you come to my house granny and granddad? And people, we laughed and held our breath for while.
Oh...my heart.
ReplyDeleteAre those white radishes? I've never had them, but butter and honey on shoe leather would make them edible for me! Glad you have spring beginning...and seedlings too! What a busy time you'll have for a few months now! Yes, holding our breaths till we can visit family again...and being glad to be alive to plan such!
ReplyDeleteThese are parsnips, sweeter and softer than carrots and pretty inedible if not cooked or roasted.
Deletethat's where we were at a week ago. hopefully we'll pick up where we left off. it's amazing how these regular spring returns can lift our spirits. I'm so sorry you can't just pick up and go see your grandchild. but soon hopefully.
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you and your connections to the scientific community. we got our first shot of Moderna and 4 weeks later we were scheduled to get the second on Feb. 11. they rescheduled it for the 14th which they canceled and rescheduled for yesterday the 19th because of acquisition problems. then they called last Wednesday and canceled the 19th because of the weather but did not give us a new date. it's now been 5 weeks and 3 days since our first vaccine shot. hopefully we'll get it next week but if it's longer what does that mean for us and it's efficacy?
According to the WHO, 42 days is the accepted time span (https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-moderna-covid-19-mrna-1273-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know). The German Standing Committee on Vaccinations has today issued a statement that up to 60 days is ok based on emerging evidence from the first load of various population studies, i.e. people who have had one shot and their antibody results.
DeleteIt's an ongoing thing, has to be watched. The original 3/4 week interval is the one the vaccine research trials were based on. There will be a cart load of studies soon enough comparing and testing efficacy of vaccines and time spans.
thanks
DeleteAn invitation from the heart! It is occurring to me that your grandchild is inviting you to what is late summer in New Zealand in our seasonally diverse world. The thought of the cranes returning moves me. Something in my DNA.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful post.
Thank you for this. This breath of springtime beauty, the sound of cranes overhead, the grandchild's heartfelt question.
ReplyDeleteWe have the reverse problem -- our snowdrops survive well but our aconites have vanished!
ReplyDeleteLovely to hear this! No matter how dreary and cold the Winter, we always know that, eventually, Spring will come and with it a renewal of everything hopeful. I love that "good stretch in the evenings" which we are also enjoying here!
ReplyDeleteMy mother used to cook carrots and parsnips and mash the two together. Delicious.
Grandkids...
ReplyDelete