A tale from Springtime

Once upon  a time there was a little boy who went to playgroup at his local Church.  He used to do lots of activities there, painting, sticking, bead threading. . . . even planting.

One day in the wintertime he brought a polystyrene cup home from his playgroup with a label saying 'with love'.  The cup was half filled with soil and he told his Mummy to leave it until Spring when she would see what he had planted.

Come the springtime a small shoot appeared and over the next few weeks it grew into a very pretty flower.  The little boy insisted that it stayed in the cup and so it did. . . . every year small leaves of green and white appeared above the surface of the soil followed by a purple flower.  Every year the Mother smiled to herself as she thought of the little boy.

Eventually the soil and small flower was planted into the garden of the house where they lived.  The Mother told no-one but every springtime the little flower popped its head out of the soil and warmed the Mother's heart.

The little corm has multiplied and now there are three flowers popping up to tell me that Spring will be here soon . . . . 

There are even more signs in the garden now, the clematis and other climbers will need to be pruned back soon.  Their green shoots belie the fact that it is soooo cold still.

The Auriculas are freshening up, their tiny buds will soon start to appear and the Sambucus Nigra, Black Lace, also feels that Spring is coming as it puts it small maroon shoots into the sunshine.

Such an exciting time of the year, each day brings hew hopes and expectations.

The Button Box

I have had this old tin of buttons for years, I think it includes some from my Mother's tin!!  My youngsters played with it and more buttons get added to it, especially some blue ones for Dx.

I brought it into the room so that I could sort some small white buttons for my preemie cardigans and, of course, it has remained there.  I could not put it away if I wanted to, a special someone just loves playing with them and we spend many an hour counting and batching.

It was really tiring this week as we had ventured into building . . .

 . . . . . . . . . . .

Encouraging Signs of Spring

 Mother Nature really is a Queen and royal in every sense of the word.  She is not inhibited by epidemics!

I chanced to walk the 'estate' while the sun was shining and the rain had stopped.  I sorted out the chickens, they don't seem to miss Olive at all - she died at the beginning of the week, old age and all that.

I wandered down towards the water feature which is covered with weeds and duckweed, sad but it doesn't stop the birds from getting a drink.  Further over in the 'blue' garden the bulbs are pushing through. 

They look like hyacinths and bluebells, which is surprising as I thought that I had moved all the bluebells to the top of the garden, this will be an interesting space to watch!!!

The Tamarisk pot also has signs of life.  I have planted daffs and hyacinths there so that the scent of the hyacinths can drift indoors. . . . . . 

The Hyacinths are going to look gorgeous!  When you consider that these small green leaves have been subjected to snow and heavy frost . . . .

Looks like blue, red and white!

Now these ARE bluebells, planted by Dx when he was a toddler, I think aged about 2 or 3.

He was too young to remember the planting day but I recall it, maybe I blogged it!!

Changing the subject, as I do . . . .

Although I am having terrific trouble with accessing any accounts at HSBC, they inundate me with requests for forms to be filled etc., I have to say that their Bereavement Line has come up trumps again.  Although I wanted nothing more to do with Solihull Branch after my treatment by 'Customer Service', a lady named Pauline rang me up  . . . . ref all the problems (they all boil down to the fact I would like to access my account) . . . . and offered to drop some papers off to me on her way home as it would be quicker than waiting for the post.  When I opened the door to her, she presented me with these gorgeous roses!

Pauline wanted to give me the flowers by way of an apology for the trouble that is going on and etc. etc.  I was quite taken aback!  They are stunning and I love them.

Kindness still abounds in the world out there!!!

Fishpond

Going out to the chickens has not been too bad today.  Everything is still frozen but most of the snow has gone, the little path to the bird feeders has patches of ice to be avoided but otherwise, it's not too cold.

I have given the chooks half a melon with their food today, just in case they were thirsty and couldn't wait for me to change their water . . . .  it was soon devoured!!

As I came back into the garden I noticed that the fish pond was a bit frozen over . . . 

There are some fish still in there, just about see them as they are at the bottom of the pond.  Thank goodness the pumps are still working so that the pond doesn't freeze over completely.

The ice itself is fascinating, I don't recall ever seeing the pond like this but . . . . I would not normally be out in this weather . . . . PJ's chickens, PJ's fish!!!

Close up there are weird shapes down this side, one can 'see' almost a fish dived into the water . . .  down there on the left, just its tail showing . . . .  wonder if it's a tiny mermaid!!

Looking at the ice from another angle . . . . .

such works of art . . . . beautiful . . . .

WOYWW #610

WOYWW - All the deets on how to link up etc. and, more importantly, why you should, can be found at the top of the page.  Thank you Julia for hosting another week of fun and mayhem.

This really is a WOYWW photo.  There are more but I don't have the patience to wait for them to download.  I have taken them this morning but to get them onto my laptop will take a good deal more time . . . time . . .  something that appears to be in really short supply.

The desk . . . .

Sorry about the photo, too early for the sun to rise, although it was the brightness of the snow shining through my curtains that woke me.

Well, the next one has downloaded . . . 

My new wallpaper is of the island just up the road from me.  It has several trees, bare and sparse, growing on the grassy knoll.  I found this photo of the trees in full bloom, yes!  not too long now surely!  I find that just the thought of Spring cheers me up!!

And another . . .  .On the right side of my desk are my printouts for some of this month's ATC swaps . . . . those insects just make me laugh and I hope the recipients enjoy them as much.

Wow! yet another!

These are some printouts ready for half term occupation . . .  good ideas are always acceptable in the grandee's household.  Apparently these are called Agamographs . . . . no idea how to pronounce it . . . English would stress the second syllable and American, which seems to be more popular nowadays, would stress the first . . . . the choice is yours . . . . 

Anyhow, I think the idea is that once coloured it is then folded to make two pictures . . . 

Keen eyes will spot the new toy slightly forward, it has had some good use this past week . . . still loving it!  

I wish you all a happy WOYWW, have a good week, don't fall over in the snow (if it's down your way!) . . . . . .

Filing!

I don't mind filing, it's one of those things that makes life easier when it's done.

I spent some time last week catching up on sorting out the piles of paperwork etc. that I keep accumulating . . . . . I don't do it on purpose, they just sortof appear!! 

One pile of stamps, a couple of folders and boxes, soon sorted so that the pile has gone and there is one folder which I can skip through to find my stamp.  I must admit that I didn't realise I had so many stamps!  

What's that??  

You know the feeling, right.

I do enjoy going through my folder when I need  . . . a bird? . . . . note down which box they're in and then find them, use them and put back . . . . well, maybe not always put back straight away!!!

WOYWW #609

 WOYWW - All the deets on how to link up etc. and, more importantly, why you should, can be found at the top of the page.  Thank you Julia for hosting another week of fun and mayhem.

It all seems so long ago . . . . now it's a permanent fixture on my desk . . .

I spent a great day testing it out, it being my Kit 'n' Caboodle Pro cut, slides out onto the desk for use and then slides back.  The plates just fit between Kit and the printer, perfik!

Since then it has been paperwork, paperwork, paperwork all the way.  

I did manage spend a short amount of time on the web, doesn't take me long to spend a bit of money . . . .

I don't know whether this will discourage or encourage folks to treat me like an idiot . . . .

On Sunday, I had a visitor for the day  . . . . 

a self proclaimed Ninja . . . .

then a Ninja in disguise appeared!!!

We had such fun . . . . . this piece of material was going to be used as pyjama trousers for the Polar Express . . . then came covid19 . . .

Nice to see it being used . . . .  lol