New paintings and regular art updates.
Old willow tree
Standing tall
Your long thin leaves
Now wave and fall
From green to gold
And yellow hue
Fluttering against
A sky of blue.
Then wind blows strong
Storm comes along
Your leaves are shredded
And stripped
To lie among
The fallen mulch
For slugs and snails
To munch!
Ooo the fuzzy buds are opening on the old willow tree in the garden. Once they fully open the blue tits will start pulling at them, I don’t know if they get the fluff out of them to use in their nests or if they are eating insects on them?
I’m not sure what type of willow tree it is, I think it’s a wild type, one that floats in on a seed and grows, a bit like a buddlea Bush, we have them too. They sneak in, but the butterflies love them. Which reminds me, I need to prune the buddleas, you have to cut them back by two thirds before they start growing in the spring, so that’s a job to do. Spring is on the way! Gardening begins.
Dawn, and a streetlight shines through the branches of our willow tree. Frost and snow festoon the twigs, but it will soon drip away and disappear. The Holly tree underneath the willow is a refuge for small birds that roost in it and try and keep warm under its glossy leaves, later in the year they will be building their nests. Today we saw a Robin on the bird table.
The light is greyish white, with a touch of yellow. The sun has hidden behind the clouds. The forecast is for a sunny day, but its still possible that there will be more snow showers. Nothing much to write about, but I do love a bit of snow.
A short story…
A cold wind blew across the lake, finding gaps in my coat and blowing my hair around. The branches and fronds of the willow trees streamed like ribbons on a kite, lifting and waving. The ducks ruffled up their feathers against the cold. We had walked out of sunshine into shade and the temperature had dropped noticeably.
The man and his dog walked towards us. It was muzzled with a band of leather round it’s mouth, but it still pulled the man along. It was a big dog. A hound of some sort. It was difficult to see in the gloom. As we came level with them the dog jumped up. It’s paws landing on my shoulders. I was knocked over by its weight. I sat down hard in a puddle. The weight of the dog pushing against me.
The man looked alarmed. Shocked. He tugged the dog away. All he said was ‘sorry’ and walked off! I sat there freezing and wet….. What a day!
Hanging willow
Dragging your leaves
Down into the water.
A fringe of twigs
Shimmer and shake
Reflected in the waters
Sheltering the birds
Lake land tree
Hiding them from predators…
Giving them a home….
I’m just re-reading the Lord of the Rings and have enjoyed the first few chapters. I’d forgotten the bit where (spoiler alert) Frodo and his friends travel through the Old Forest on the borders of the Shire. They are pulled off course by the lie of the land and end up on the banks of the Wythewindle stream. They feel increasingly sleepy and three of them rest next to an old willow tree. This is Old Man Willow, master tree of the forest. It traps two of them inside its trunk and Frodo under a tree root forcing him face down into the river. It is only because Sam Gamgee his faithful friend and servant runs off calling for help that Tom Bombadil, an ancient guardian of the forest, finds them as he arrives rhyming and singing, and rescues them. He is a powerful figure in this part of the book, (Book 1), before the Hobbits get into the more dark and complex parts of the story. Later in the same section he saves them again from further frightening events.
In the films of the book this section of the story was left out. Its a shame in a way, it may have been removed to shorten the story, but it makes the book feel like it is for a slightly younger audience, that feeling of innocent adventure that reminds you of the Narnia stories or Swallows and Amazons. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books.
This morning I saw a woodpecker in our garden. I’d never seen one in real life and I’m not sure what type it was but it was climbing up our willow tree, pecking at the bark. Looking for insects? I hope it comes back tomorrow. If it does I will try and get a photo then try and identify it. We do have lots of trees in the garden even though we are in the centre of a city. I guess we are trying to do our bit for the environment.
Recently planted willow stems arch over a path and make a willow dragon that children can run rhrough. It was a bit low for me until I got into the main tunnel. Still it was fun to walk through. It’s something you could make in your garden if you had the knowledge. X
Shaggy giants with delicate fronds of leaves hanging down and blowing in the cold wind. I’ve sat underneath a willow tree, back against its trunk, hidden behind the curtain of leaves. I was only young and it was like sitting in a fairytale. I remember the sunlight sparkling and dancing through the lace like leaves.
Dry ground, roots, scuffed by ducks and geese. Memories of the 1960’s. So long ago, but we’ll remembered.
Got up just before 7 to draw a magnificent dawn? It was still gloomy when I started and because of the low cloud it got lighter, but no sign of the sun!
This is the view east of the house. Willow Bush still in leaf but turning yellow, beyond that the rooves of the shops on the main road and the skeleton of a new building that stopped growing in March. The telephone pole, the Walnut tree we planted twenty five years ago and a Holly Bush below the willow. Used a calligraphy black ink pen and Spectrum Noir metallic coloured pencils. Took about twenty minutes in semi darkness.
Mallaband-Brown