Happy St David’s Day!
Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus!
daffodils
Imbolc
Today is February 1st and in the UK that is Imbolc, the first festival of the year, half way between the Winter Solstice (Yule), and the Spring Equinox, Ostara. Now I am no expert on all of this but from my reading so far and my previous knowledge and experience I can see that it is the very beginning of Spring.
At a Solstice the day length is changing very slowly. With careful measurement, probably originally by marking each day where the sun rose and set, the date could be determined. But for most of us there is quite a long period when it feels as if the days stay the same length. The endless long ones of high Summer and the endless dreary short ones of Winter.
Graph from Google
Given that the weather in Winter here in SW Wales is cold or wet (or both!) most of the time it makes sense to stay indoors and in fact the ground is often too wet and muddy to do much outside. Even if I put on waterproofs and go and do some tree work or make something in the workshop the days are short so time by the fire is relatively long. Until artificial light became commonplace not much could be done indoors after dark either! So this was a time to think, dream and plan.
But now the days are getting noticeably longer and work can start on those projects planned in the dark; dreams can begin to be manifest into reality. It is all very slow. The days are still short, the weather not great but energy is rising. I can feel myself wanting to start things.
Outside I can see nature stirring. The first snowdrops are blooming by the entrance to my drive, the hazel catkins are lengthening and opening and the daffodils have come up; some even have flower buds. Impatient, I bought a bunch of daffodils in the supermarket for the kitchen.
The days don’t only start to get noticeably longer at this time of year, the strength of the light increases and traditionally that showed up all the cobwebs and grime which had accumulated indoors. So Spring cleaning was in order which was also a good use of time when there was little to do on the land. Of course now we have electric lights we can see the cobwebs any day. But I was interested to see how many adverts there are around at the moment for cleaning products and equipment – it seems we still get the urge to clean our homes and ‘clear the decks’! I am not a fan of housework and I reckon that adult spiders bring their youngsters to this house to practice their web-building skills! I would quite like to be unable to see them for a few more weeks each year!
For me it feels too early to Spring Clean anyway because whilst I could wash curtains and such like getting them dry would be difficult. I need to wait for ‘March winds’! But I have started re-decorating the kitchen. The hand made solid wood worktops have worn in places and need re-oiling. And there were a number of mouldy patches from condensation damp which refused to come clean any more. I have taken the chance to change the colour from a rather insipid pale green to dark. I am doing one section at a time to minimise disruption.
And I have started to paint the outside walls whilst the scaffolding is up. There has been only one day so far when it was dry but not too cold but I spent all day on the job and got quite a bit done. To avoid hauling paint cans and tools up the ladders I opened the bedroom window wide (it is one of those tilt and turn ones) and got out onto the scaffolding that way! The front and the gable ends are staying reddish brown but the back was magnolia because it is very gloomy out there. I thought I had bought another can of the same but when I opened it it was a pale grey. My mistake not checking that the label on the can matched that on the shelf. I couldn’t be bothered driving 20 miles to change it and losing an afternoon of fine weather so grey it is.
Tomorrow looks like another decent day and Laura should be with me in the afternoon so we should be able to finish all the bits that we need the scaffolding for. The areas which we can reach from the ground can be done later if needs be.
So 2 projects beginning. First shoots of the new plans.
Daffodils
There is, or was, a tradition in this area of planting daffodils along the edge of the road in front of your house. Sometimes on the same side as your gate but often opposite. I am not sure why that was – to be able to see them from the windows? But even farms down a long track often have some opposite the entrance. One of my neighbours was particularly keen on this practice and there are loads of daffs and narcissi outside the house she used to live in.
Opposite my entrance there are a few old bulbs (probably pre world War 2) and I have planted more along the edge of the driveway but today I thought I would like to uphold the old ways and have made a diary note to put more on both sides of the road.
From Mountain Goats to Busy Bees
Only a few weeks ago Laura and I were finishing the main tree work for this year tackling the trickiest jobs which I had left until last so that we built up our skills on the easiest first. We cut some trees growing right on the edge of the high, vertical bank behind the greenhouses just before snow came.
The two which are still growing out of the bank are too far down to be reached from above and as I do not want them to regrow we will cut them from stepladders behind the greenhouses later.
Then we laid a hedge in an almost equally awkward place!
By the time we had done that we were joking that we were fully qualified as Mountain Goats!
But now spring has started to appear. The snowdrops and daffodils are out in several parts of the garden.
The wild garlic is reappearing on the path by the stream
The crown of early rhubarb is leafing.
I made a bird box over winter and hung it opposite the end of the deck so I can watch it from the house. I have seen blue tits investigating it – will they move in?
The black elder near it is breaking bud and living up to its name.
And in the greenhouses the 2 apricot trees and the peach are in full bloom.
It is too early for many insects to be flying so to ensure a good set of fruit one of us must tickle each of these flowers with a soft brush every day. So now we are no longer Mountain Goats but Busy Bees!
Hope
I tried to write this post yesterday but WordPress would not upload my photos for some reason. However today I woke to snow so you get pictures of that as well!
I was listening to a podcast of BBC Radio 4’s Open Country in which an enthusiast for snowdrops – a galanthophile if we are being posh! – explained that in the Victorian language of flowers they stood for Hope and were therefore often planted in Churchyards. More mundanely they were also frequently planted alomng the edge of the path to the privy to help find the way in the dark!
The first ones are just coming into bloom in my garden. I don’t know how long they have been here but they were well established when we arrived in 1994. Despite all the work we have done shifting things around they survive. These are on the steep bank behind the Metasequoia at the entrance.
Daffodils will not be far behind. There are some very old ones from before our time here but these are ones I planted so a modern variety and an early one. I bought a mixed sack so I have no idea what variety any particular plant is!
As I was walking round taking these photos with the dogs I spotted an icicle on the old Oak tree in the wild part of the garden
Then yesterday afternoon we had a sprinkling of snow and overnight a good fall. It made this morning’s walk magical.
This board was propped against one of the compost bins and the snow formed an amazing texture which I just had to capture as inspiration for a future project
I now consider myself snowed in as the road was still icy yesterday afternoon and now with snow on top I won’t be able to see where I might slip. I don’t want another broken wrist! Or to crash the car. I actually like being snowed in! I always keep good stocks of food in the pantry and freezer and the woodshed is well filled so I can sit it out.
Going Batty in Wales 