Glory in the Gardens

 We've had better weather - briefly as it has started raining again - and things have really come to life in the Friary Gardens, where the early showing of aconite and snowdrops has been replaced by glory of the snows. 

It's not a native wildflower, it's a cultivar of squill of some kind I believe, but it grows wildly enough, and the bees seem to love it too. 

I've had some time off, spending it with my sister, finally finding an ideal internment spot for my mum's ashes after so long. The original plan was to scatter her in a favourite spot in her Scottish hometown, but the pandemic got in the way of all that, and we've all decided we'd rather she was close to home so we have a spot to visit on important dates. 

So by a mighty and gnarly old tree, which we felt sure she'd have loved, she will rest. 

With time to walk - and run too! - my Tourette symptoms eased somewhat. Although my increasingly middle aged body often wakes with sciatica and other twinges. Yet I do not feel mentally old, I feel as I did when I was 15 in many ways. 

Long may that continue!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 19.03.24

The Beauty of Small Things

 I'm not seeing many "big" pollinators at the moment, but as the occasional, well, I'd hardly call them "bursts" of sunshine have appeared - more like watery visitations of a sun like object in the sky - there have been plenty of smaller pretties on offer. 

I like to take every opportunity to get outside, waving my cameraphone around hopefully, to see what might be out there, and I like to advise everyone to do the same, if only with their eyes. Because at this time of the year, beautiful things are emerging, and they might not all be of the largest size.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.03.24