Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a rather long elegy called In Memoriam in 1849.  It is a poem written over seventeen years about his grief at losing a friend and is long meditation on God and the reason for human existence and even TS Eliot called it unapproachable.  In spite of the fact that few people manage to read all 100 plus stanzas, it has been influential in giving us two well know phrases.  The first is

'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all

The second is the well known phrase 'Nature, red in tooth and claw' which was meant to describe mankind, though is most often used when humans are rather shocked at how bloody and violent nature can be.  This phrase has been in my mind since we had a visitor to the back garden yesterday.

After a moment of stunned shock at seeing what looked like a bird of prey near to our back door, we took a few pictures of what we've decided is a young sparrowhawk.  He seemed to be a little confused and kept on calling for what we assumed was his mother.  He otherwise just sat on the fence and preened himself for a few minutes until we heard another bird calling and he flew off.  

I half expected to see most of our blue tits and sparrows in small pieces on the lawn, and whilst excited to see this wonderful bird, suddenly concerned about the small birds we love to watch.  But this is a natural way of things, hawks have always hunted small birds, as nature is red in tooth and claw.   On the walk home last night this thought was confirmed when I saw a charming scene of a dead rat in the park, which had been somewhat torn from limb from limb, probably by one of the crows in the area.

In spite of the all this bloodshed, this morning we had a rare sighting of a jay in the garden which was wonderful.  The year is moving on, Mr C is starting to grow his veg seeds in sunny windowsills, the birds are nesting and singing loudly, the days are lengthening and the word is slowly turning green again.

"March is a month of considerable frustration - it is so near spring and yet across a great deal of the country the weather is still so violent and changeable that outdoor activity in our yards seems light years away."
  Thalassa Cruso  

The first day of Spring?

Today is officially the first day of Spring and of course, it is colder and duller than the last week or so.  It is almost as if Spring doesn't want to be pinned down and told when to start!  Everything is starting to bloom and bud in the garden though.  I took a little wander through the garden and took some pictures of the spring that is starting...

 

Everything is unfurling and slowly turning green.  I love this time of year, there seem to be endless possibilities and it all looks so very new.

Flowering currant

Comfrey

Even the roses are starting to bud

We are just back from visiting friends in Norfolk and spent some lovely days on the River Yare and looking at Norwich.  It felt that there were churches every few feet - there are still over 30 medieval churches in the city, most of which have other uses now, but in the early medieval days there were 57 churches just within the city walls!

The River Yare

We also visited the Castle and Cathedral.  The Castle was mostly just the main keep, it once spread across a far larger area, although where it could have fitted amongst all the churches, I don't know. 

 

 

Norwich Cathedral is a rather elegant Romanesque design, the cloisters were my favourite part.  I wonder if we can build some cloisters at Hazel Cottage?!

We ran out of time to visit all the things we wanted to, so we will just have to return one day.  I quite like the idea of visiting all of the 30 odd churches in the one trip, but we will have to see.  There are other adventures and holidays to plan before then.  It has been a long time since we've been to Devon due to weather and busyness, and when I haven't been there for a while amongst the leafy lanes and wild garlic I feel slightly bereft.

The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.
When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here.

Anon

A 'typical' Sunday at Hazel Cottage

I was walking through the house earlier and took pictures of some of the interesting and random things that are currently happening at Hazel Cottage... 

Soil warming on a radiator ready for seeds

Rye bread proving in the washing basket

Parsnip wine fermenting under the desk in the study

Old books rescued from a jumble sale

My still unfinished patchwork picture in the sewing area

Daffodils on the hearth

Rye bread just out of the oven

In the garden, the crocuses are basking in whatever sunshine they can find, the snowdrops are nodding in the wind and I spotted two robins on the bird table this morning - almost time for nesting to start perhaps?

Wan February with weeping cheer,
Whose cold hand guides the youngling year
Down misty roads of mire and rime,
Before thy pale and fitful face
The shrill wind shifts the clouds apace
Through skies the morning scarce may climb.
Thine eyes are thick with heavy tears,
But lit with hopes that light the year's."
 Algernon Charles Swinburne, A Year's Carols: February

 

Days full of fret and care

Last night I switched off the news just before the weather forecast started.  I couldn't face yet more forecasts of wind and rain and tales of constant bombardments of storms from the Atlantic.  I just had to look out of the window to see what was happening. This reminded me of a quote I'd seen the other day from the wonderfully funny and insightful writer, Jerome K Jerome:

“But who wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes,
without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand.”

I've got the impression that it isn't just me who has found the incessantly bad weather rather depressing.  I can't get into the garden to do very much, even planning for the year ahead seems a bit silly when I can barely walk across the lawn without squelching and sinking a little.  When trying to cheer myself up the other day I found a number of quotes from Jerome K Jerome that I really enjoyed.  so I thought I would post these along with some pictures showing our garden in much sunnier times:

“The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays her hand upon our fevered head, and turns our little tear-stained faces up to hers, and smiles; and though she does not speak, we know what she would say, and lay our hot flushed cheek against her bosom, and the pain is gone. Sometimes, our pain is very deep and real, and we stand before her very silent, because there is no language for our pain, only a moan. Night's heart is full of pity for us: she cannot ease our aching; she takes our hand in hers, and the little world grows very small and very far away beneath us, and, borne on her dark wings, we pass for a moment into a mightier Presence than her own, and in the wondrous light of that great Presence, all human life lies like a book before us, and we know that Pain and Sorrow are but angels of God.”

A prescription for life:

“1lb beefsteak, with

1pt bitter beer

every 6 hours.

1 ten-mile walk every morning.

1 bed at 11 sharp every night.

And don't stuff your head with things you don't understand.”

“Seek out some retired and old-world spot, far from the madding crowd, and dream away a sunny week among its drowsy lanes - some half-forgotten nook, hidden away by the fairies, out of reach of the noisy world - some quaint-perched eyrie on the cliffs of Time, from whence the surging waves of the nineteenth century would sound far-off and faint.” 

 

People who have tried it, tell me that a clear conscience makes you very happy and contented; but a full stomach does the business quite as well, and is cheaper, and more easily obtained.

 We are so bound together that no man can labour for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the universe.

Once we discover how to appreciate the timeless values in our daily experiences, we can enjoy the best things in life.

Like these frail snowdrops that together cling

Its been such a stormy month or two here at Hazel Cottage (and for most people in the South of England).  At the weekend I managed to get into the garden on a sunny moment very briefly in between rain showers and plant a few very late tulip bulbs and sweep up some sodden leaves.  Before I ran back into the house, I noticed that the snowdrops had appeared just in time for Candlemas:

Amongst all the storms and rain, the simple snowdrop peeps through the leaves and twigs.  I read the other day that the snowdrop, which appear in the midst of winter is a symbol of hope.  There is a legend that the snowdrop appeared when Adam and Eve were about to give up hope that the cold winters would ever end.  An angel appeared and transformed some snow flakes into snowdrops - proving that winter does eventually give way to springtime.

William Wordsworth wrote a poem called 'On seeing a tuft of snowdrops following a storm' in 1888.  It seemed rather apt that he too had experienced stormy winter weather and that the snowdrops symbolised hope.

'Like these frail snowdrops that together cling,
And nod their helmets, smitten by the wing
Of many a furious whirl-blast sweeping by.'

It is traditional that the snowdrop appears around Candlemas, on 2nd February.  I had just started this blog when I read Jane's lovely post about candlemas, which I recommend if you want to know more.

Our garden fence - we wont be putting it back up until we are sure we wont get more wind and rain!

The saying goes 'If Candlemas be fair and clear,  there'll be two winters in the year.'   Rather worryinging, Candlemas was quite a sunny pleasant day in the midst of all the storms.  There are more high winds and heavy rain forecast for this coming week.

 

Signs of a spring yet to come

 "The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."
-  Gertrude S. Wister

Our annual birdwatch

Each year the RSPB ask people to spend an hour making a note of the birds they see in their garden and then upload the results to their website.  We like to take part and do our bit to help out as we feed birds in our garden all year round.  I think last year's bird watch was the quietest day bird wise in the whole year, but it was soon after we had snow so they had an excuse. 

This year was far busier, although the blue tits we usually see every day were a little shy.  The idea is that you make a count of the most of each type of birds you see in the garden at one time over the course of one hour.  This is to stop you counting the same birds several times!  We fed the birds and went back inside and started our count.

Our count came to:

1 crow
2 wrens
1 robin
5 blackbirds
3 collared doves
9 starlings
5 goldfinches
2 magpies
1 woodpigeon
1 sparrow
2 blue tits

 Those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art. 

Izaak Walton

The rain it raineth every day

Although the torrential rain and strong winds have lessened and we have even had one or two lovely sunny days, I don't think there have been many days recently where it hasn't rained. Indeed it has mostly rained constantly every day.  I'm aware that to some people around the world having some rain for a few weeks isn't a major issue when you have hurricanes, snow or drought.  However for our generally temperate non-extreme corner of England, it feels rather excessive. 

The garden is so wet and marshy only the birds and the squirrel are braving the lawn.  I've still not planted my tulip bulbs other than a few in a pot in the front garden, and I have no clue what is happening to the end of the garden other than the fence panels have mostly blown down.  Both we and the garden feel rather beleaguered right now.  After the light and brightness of Christmas, January and its incessant rain and wind is quite dull and drear.  The old house even has a few leaks and it feels as if we cannot escape from the rain.

All this rain reminded me of a verse of a poem called Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield:

"Rain and wind, and wind and rain.
Will the Summer come again?
Rain on houses, on the street,
Wetting all the people's feet,
Though they run with might and main.
Rain and wind, and wind and rain.

In all the gloom, I am continuing with my patchwork picture, slowly putting the hexagon patches together.  I don't know whether I am imagining it but I think my sewing is getting a little bit tidier as time goes on.  I don't think I will post a close-up picture though!

 

"Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour."

-  John Boswell

  

Due to the rubbish dull weather I haven't taken many photographs lately.  I did take a few pictures on the couple of lovely winter days, my favourite of which is this one.

Rather than depress everyone with my negative ramblings, I want to end this post with a lovely positive quote from one of my favourite writers, Jerome K Jerome:

A new life begins for us with every second

Let us go forward joyously to meet it.

We must press on, whether we will or no,

and we shall walk better with our eyes before us

than with them ever cast behind.