Willow love......

One of my great spring time loves is to watch the
gradual unfolding of the beautiful weeping willow in
our back garden. I watch and wait every spring for the
first little shoots....




.....And gradually it unfolds, so fresh and wonderful...



..As I watch and wait......



Until magically it becomes a cave of fresh
fluffy leaves....




I dearly love Elsa Beskow's Willow Baby, so delicate and yet
so beautiful.......

Then I think of William Morris....a fellow admirer of the
humble willow......
And all the fabulous uses I dream of, for the willow branches...
willow cubbys, charcoal making, weaving baskets and of course
spring garlands............

Early memories.....

I often wonder what memories my children will savour from
their early childhood. As I busy myself with all that caring for two
young children entails, I wonder and hope.......
I hope they will remember the small things amongst it all.....
the little vase of garden flowers on the meal table, the toys they
have watched me knit or sew, the smell of baking......
our slow walks in nature......
To me these things seem like little treasures in a sea of humble tasks.
I just like to think that some of these little moments of beauty
will become part of my children....and nourish them on their way.
........As they nourish me on my mothering journey.
I so love the words of Walt Whitman here........

There was a child went forth every day

And the first object he look'd upon

that object he became,

And that object became part of him

for the day or certain part of the day

Or for many years or stretching cycles

of years.......

Bread......

We bake our own bread.......sometimes. Its nice to see the sack of
Bio dynamic flour in the pantry, patiently waiting.....There is a
feeling of plenty just knowing it's there.
Then there is the fun and vigour of the wonderful transforming,
bread making process. A fabulous outlet for excess energy on
a rainy day.........





We have been greatly inspired on our bread making journey
by this wonderful book:






It conveys such a lovely sense of mind fullness in the
bread making process. (Not to mention inspiring my helpers
with recipes for dragon bread and campfire bread...cooked on
a stick!)
I have learnt to open my heart and knead a blessing into our
bread. And to reflect on a deeper level about the energy and
feeling that goes into the food that I cook.





And then of course there is the smell, that fills the house with a
lovely sense of anticipation and well being.
The perfect excuse for a feast and a favourite little blessing.....


The Harvest

The silver rain, the shining sun,

The fields where scarlet poppies run,

And all the ripples of the wheat,

Are in the bread that I do eat.

So when I sit for every meal

And say a grace, I always feel

That I am eating rain and sun,

And fields where scarlet poppies run....

Alice C. Henderson

Spring days.....

Then there is a sunny day.....and everything suddenly seems
to burst forth. We find ourselves making spring garlands,
feeling the sun on our bare arms and feasting on soursobs.
Something inside me seems to relax, the door opens and we
bask in a few days of early spring sunshine.




Out come our little spring fairies, dancing in a circle in the
breeze and joining the celebrations. Every spring they hang
over our kitchen table. I didn't make them myself, but every
year I feel so grateful that somebody did......





Then one morning my children wake up to discover that
'little king winter' has left the nature corner.....and spring
has come. I feel glad that simple things create such
excitement in their lives!





......And of course then it rains....and I remember that:
"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of may......."

Happy early spring !

Living on the cusp.....

I dearly love the first tiny fledgling shoots of a new spring.....
That moment when I realise that I am on the cusp of two seasons
....not quite in either....just yet.... but with all the infinite possibilities that a new season seems to bring.
Especially spring, those first little green shoots......




The first tentative spring craft projects.......





.... The magic in the garden, which inspires it all.....





And the promise of more.....