New lockdown!

Posted on January 4, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged environmental issues, Fearful, Hope, Life, Lockdown, Now, Spring, Time, Waiting2 Comments

Locked in, hidden, hiding under the duvet. Fearful, lost, caught in this world. But I will follow the rules. I don’t see any reason not to. We are trapped in history, waiting for the moments to pass. Waiting for clean air, waiting for a meagre spring, when life, at least in nature, might come back to renew the world again.

We have been too hasty to drop our guard. Ill led by men with hidden agendas. Some leaders shone, others discarded life in exchange for monetary power. But maybe the earth will win in the end. The environment protected as never before. We must live to our means, not to our greed.

Seasons greetings

Posted on December 27, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Blooming, Life, Poem, Poetry, Seasins, Spring, Summer, Time, Weather, Winter, WorldLeave a comment

Seasons come and seasons go

Sometimes wind and gales blow

Winter comes the cold is sharp

Spring time and the singing lark.

Fills the world with sweet delight

But the spring soon takes its flight

Summer time comes round again

Sometimes hot, sometimes with rain.

Flowers bloom and butterflies flit

Through the world all brightly lit

Later days get old again

Leaves they fall in autumn rain

Waiting till the end of year

Darkness comes but no fear

Always after winter comes

spring arrived with glorious blooms.

Waiting

Posted on December 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cold ground, Colours, Earth, Flowers, Gardening, Growth, Plants, Poem, Poetry, SpringLeave a comment

For daffodils

For tulips

For helibores

And hyacynths

Start with snowdrops

And irises.

Crocuses

And primrose.

Pushing up through

Bare. Cold ground

Warmth arrived

Each. Flower head

Brings. Spring

Closer.

Spring sprung

Posted on October 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blossom, Eternal, Fruit, Hope, Life, Poem, Poetry, Return, Season, Spring, TimeLeave a comment

Spring, sprung

Six months ago

Remember the blossom

The cherries that followed

Apples and pears

All out there

Hope reigns that it will come again.

Springing up from cold earth

Bitter rain

Chilling frosts.

Hope springs eternal….

Cold chills

Posted on October 9, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Blue, Bright colours, Cold, Frost, Grey, Poem, Poetry, seasons, Spring, Waiting, WinterLeave a comment

Something cold

Something blue

Strong winds

Cold showers

Gale force time

Leaves off the trees

Strewn on the ground

Kicking them round.

Run through the mounds

Of yellow and gold

Reds and russets

Spiralling down.

Crisp and clear

Frost on the way,

Sparkling blue skies

Or raining all day.

Overcast with clouds

Grey and misty

Fungi are found

Surrounded by mystery.

Soon will be winter

End of bright colour

Till spring

Comes again

In showers and bluster.

Roses

Posted on October 2, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Black spot, Covid, Flowers, Fungi, Life, Sad, seasons, Spring, Thinking, Winter, World, YearLeave a comment

The roses have faded and are gone. Only memories stay with you. Perfume, thorns.

The autumn and fungi are here, rosehips are swelling, elderberries feed the birds. Clouds are gathering, nights are earlier, mornings later. Time for spooky evenings, pumpkins and spiders. Black cats and rats. Mists descend, people try and raise their spirits with bonfires and fireworks, lighting up the sky with flashes and whizzes. Now few entertainments will be allowed. Life continues, but a grey boredom faces us. Keep away, keep away, keep away, the bird Sings. Out of the darkness people laugh, hide, drink, get up to high jinks. Fools for a day or the season. As the year creeps on festivals are cancelled, subscriptions to TV channels you never watched before increase. Firms named after rain forests cash in. Work continues but strangely. And snacks to comfort us are eaten. Winter arrives in cold airs and frosts, the seasons turn. Will spring and rose buds ever return or will black spot spoil the days?

Spring again

Posted on July 22, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged apples, Blackberries, Blossom, Bushes, Cherries, Exercise, Fruit, Garden, Gardening, Gooseberries, Pears, Plants, Spring, TreesLeave a comment

IMG_20200412_200739

Blossom on the trees turned into leaves and a wonderful crop of cherries.

We also have a lot of pears growing and a few apples. The elderberry Bush is starting to fill with fruit and the blackberries are ripening on their bushes. The only thing I miss is gooseberries. My hubby has eaten them all fresh off the plant!

Yes spring was good this year. Good to think of something other than a virus!

Water

Posted on July 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ground, Life, Mineral water, Minerals, Rocks, Spring, Spring water, Tap water, Thinking, Time, Water, WateryLeave a comment

sketch-1594733693584

I’ve just been reading a Facebook post discussing whether spring water is better than tap water, on the premise that tap water had more minerals in it.

I know that in Britain the water quality is regulated and that government checks that quality regularly.

Water from springs perculates through rocks with minerals in them. Over thousands or millions of years they pick up the minerals as they are dissolved by the water (rainwater will also contain dust particles from the air, and organic matter from the ground before it gets into the rocks). Then it depends on the geology. That’s why we have hard water and soft water. In some springs the water can be hot. Some were used by the Victorians as purgatives as they contained high levels of things like sulphur. They were used as cures and remedies, the idea being that they cleansed the body.

Modern tap water contains a few additives like fluorine. But in measured amounts. My dad used to call it ‘corporation pop’. Not dangerous.

Time moves on…

Posted on June 8, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Drawing, Garden, Life, Plants, Sketch, Spring, Trees, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent2 Comments

_20200412_154425

About six weeks ago the buds were just bursting in the garden. Now they have emerged and the garden is clothed in green. The Walnut tree looks like it’s gained another five or six foot. It towers over the garden. Water seeps out from underneath it. We have had it checked to see if its a split pipe but the workers who looked at it said no, it’s a spring. Whatever it is, we seem to be growing a pond or a lake now. We have put a bird bath in its way, a shallow bowl, so that the birds and animals that frequent the garden can get a drink in the warm weather. I’m now thinking of planting some hostas or iris or bog plants in that area. I would like to pipe it away into a drain if I can.

We have had a bit of heavy rain over the last few days. Dark clouds fly past overhead, dumping rain and hail over us. I’m waiting for the next downpour.

Flowers

Posted on May 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Colours, Environment, Flowers, Gardening, Geology, Life, Photos, Plants, Random, Spring, WaterLeave a comment

IMG_20200528_184443

A few flowers from the garden today. The flowers are starting to develop, the big summer plants are a bit swamped with ivy and scrubby bushes and so we have cut back branches and peeled ivy off trees a bit today. Only what you can do with a pair of secateurs and a small pruning saw.

We need to lay some pathways, and where a spring has erupted in the garden we are going to put a few pebbles to simulate a stream flowing down under the hedge. We live on a hill which is a very old Volcanic plug. The water percolates out further up the hill and we think because that was built on a few years ago it might have got diverted down towards our house. I don’t know….

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Spring