Category Archives: springtime

The plant place

June 9, 2017children, Life, nature, parenting, philosophy, poem, Poetry, springtimechildren, Gardening, Life, parenting, philosophy, plants, poem, poetryThe Cheesesellers Wife

Today we visited the plant place
Delighted in sturdy trees and shrubs
And many small flowers nurtured to full brightness
In a long slow chill spring
By a couple who could be us in fifteen years time
We took time to linger, to chat and choose
Brought home Lavender, rooted stems of Blackthorn
Several small domes of Thyme
“We bought some Thyme” I said to our teen-aged son
Who contested that time cannot be bought
But is spent often heedlessly
Slipping away unnoticed
We bought time in his younger days with reduced incomes
Time spent with him and his brother
Not wasted, but well-used and treasured
I delight in this sturdy young man
Tended and taught, growing to the light
Both plants and children need tender care
Nurseries are a well spring of civilisation

The”Plant place” is Wolverton Plants. I wrote this a couple of months ago after a visit on my birthday, and have just found it again on a stray piece of paper. I publish it today in honour of ‘Where are the Chickens’ new baby son….

https://wherearethechickens.com/2017/06/08/blackberries-and-a-baby/

Fosbury Fort

May 9, 2017archeology, beauty, nature, poem, Poetry, springtimearcheology, flowers, Fosbury Fort, hill fort, nature, prehistory, spring, springtimeThe Cheesesellers Wife

Skylarks sing and soar
We walk encircling ramparts
Gazing at the still deep ditch
Imploring the grassy interior
Unyielding of its secrets
Bluebell woods encompass almost two quadrants
Storms have tipped mossy trees into the line of defence
Making us clamber and slip
Amid the fragrant blue

….we went walking in Jane Austen country this lunchtime (on Doctors orders), and explored the hill fort on Haydown Hill……….

Prosody

May 8, 2017art, poem, Poetry, springtimepoem, poetry, prosody, rhyme, springThe Cheesesellers Wife

I am enjamming
Collating rhythm and sound
Until it feels right
I am versifying
Taking words and playing around
On a chilly Spring night

Spring Flowers

April 10, 2017Amsterdam, art, beauty, garden, Life, nature, Painting, springtime, watercolourart, beauty, flowers, Gardening, Life, nature, Painting, spring, springtime, sun, tulip, watercolourThe Cheesesellers Wife

The tulips are just beginning to open in my back garden. Are yours still to come, or have they been and gone?

The Smell of bees

April 1, 2017beauty, nature, poem, Poetry, Science, springtime, Wild lifebee, bumble, flowers, food, Gardening, nature, poem, poetry, spring, springtimeThe Cheesesellers Wife

“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
― Ray Bradbury

The Smell of bees

I saw my first bee today, hearing buzzing while weeding
I searched for the little fellow and found him
Bumbling around the Lungwort
Buzzing with glee in the surprise warmth
Black, gold with a red bum
Furry and indomitable
He also harvests my garden
And mine depends on his

Its relief to see a bee today, with all the talk of their demise
Poisoned by chemicals that may yet kill us
Directly, as doses build, or indirectly
As my garden companions cease to pollinate
And harvests drop
The smell of small dusty bees
Will no longer tantalise my nostrils
Nor will the fragrance of food

Snowdrops

February 18, 2017beauty, garden, nature, poem, Poetry, Snowdrops, springtime, Wild life, winterbeauty, England, flowers, Gardening, Life, nature, poem, seasons, Snowdrops, spring, springtime, winterThe Cheesesellers Wife

Snowdrops

No snow but snowdrops
Clumping along hedgerows
Sliding down roadside verges
Sauntering in woodlands
Appearing big and bold against midwinter browns