Spring Is Sprung...

The spring was out in force again on Sunday. We visited the lovely market town of Petersfield on Sunday morning for Cappuccinos with the Sunday papers and I was taken by the effective simplicity of the flowers on each table. Ours was in a stone jar, probably an old Stilton Cheese pot, and contained a few Ranunculus, Carnations and Pussy Willow sprigs.  I love Ranunculus, OK I love most flowers, they are so opulent, like layers of crumpled tissue paper or a full tulle skirt. Their name is Latin for "little frog" and part of the same family is the humble, but no less stunning, Buttercup.

We then moved over the Hampshire/Sussex boarder to go up onto the Sussex Downs, which were granted National Park status only last year. It is glorious up there, and really does feel like being on top of the world with a great view down into South Harting. I used to go there with my parents when I was a child and we would fly kites. Last weekend, as we ate our picnic, we watched scaled up kites as paragliders sailed the thermals in front of us. And with the  car roof down all the way home we were back in time to see England win against France in the Six Nations rugby! What could be a better way to relax on a sunny, Spring afternoon?!

Spring in Hampshire is definitely moving on a pace now, and my favourite season. Probably because I was an Easter Sunday baby, way back when! As I write a handsome pair Blackbirds are landing on the fence post outside of my studio with beaks full of the soft, springy moss bedding that they have been gleaning from my lawn and then disappearing in to the hedge opposite my window. I love watching this nest building project, in a few weeks I will be treated to a feeding frenzy as the cock bird supplies his mate and chicks with juicy spring grubs and worms and finally their lovely fat babies will fledge and sit out on the fence demanding their parents drop the same treats into their demanding orange orifices.  I certainly have got the best seat in the house!!

Pure Beauty...

I've  had a lovely time in the slightly unseasonal spring sunshine the last couple of weekends. It is so great to be traveling around the Hampshire countryside seeing the Hazel catkins out in the hedgerows - when I was little we used to call them lamb's tails and it is easy to see why. Although I have yet to spot any actual lambs in the fields, but their fleecy dams are looking heavily expectant and probably glad the days are longer and less cold even if the sun probably feels too much with the spring sunshine on their woolly backs.

A few days ago I visited the Chawton House Library Library gardens. This is a wonderful private library specialising in early English women's work and as you may know is based in the home village of Jane Austen. I visited with a group of friends to see the wonderful Snowdrop drifts they have there. I love this simple little flower, which were traditionally know as snow piercers,  you can't help but be inspired by the way they do pierce their way up through the frozen ground at this time of year to display such delicate blooms. Again they remind me of childhood and how excited we were to pick the first wildflower of the year back then. Of course we wouldn't do that today as they are protected, but I have some cultivated varieties growing in my garden and sometime put a few into a small vase on the kitchen table so that they can be inspected and their pure beauty appreciated at close quarters, even though folklore says that it is very unlucky to bring them into the house. Although the Galanthophiles, (the name for Snowdrop collectors), who discovered a green tinted sport which they named Green Tear had a lucky days when a single bulb sold online for £368 and another single bulb of a yellow type called Elizabeth Harrison sold for £725!

Such simple beauty is definitely a thing to behold!!!