As Winter Turns to Spring

As Winter turns to Spring.

Now — now, as low I stooped, thought I,

I will see what this snowdrop is;

As winters dark aura covers the land the humble snowdrop defies its icy grip and emerges to give us hope that Spring cannot be denied and will soon banish the cold. 

So shall I put much argument by,

And solve a lifetime's mysteries.

A northern wind had frozen the grass;

This tiny delicate flower must be the toughest tenacious and hardiest of our garden flowers. Pushing its slender leaves through the hardest of frost bitten soils in the first two months of every new year. It raises our spirits and we are glad to see those pale green shoots topped by a shy white bowing flower head.  

Its blades were hoar with crystal rime,

Aglint like light-dissecting glass

At beam of morning prime.

Snowdrops were first described by the classical Greek author Theophrastus in the fourth century BC.

Rembert Dodoens, a Flemish botanist described and illustrated it in 1583 as did Gerard the herbalist in 1597. The genus was formally named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. He described it as a single species Galanthus Nivalis. Other well known botanists have contributed to the knowledge of the species and there are around 20variations of the galanthus specious. The most common and the most prolific are the Galanthus Nivalis.

Its angled, slender, cold, dark stem,

Whence dangled an inverted cup

For tri-leaved diadem.

Beneath these ice-pure sepals lay

So well beloved are these delightful little blooms that there are dedicated Snowdrop walks in big estates across the country. Its small white scaleless bulbs escape the most ruthless of garden clearances and pop up in the most unexpected places the following spring.  

A triplet of green-pencilled snow,

Which in the chill-aired gloom of day

Stirred softly to and fro.

Mind fixed, but else made vacant, I,

Lost to my body, called my soul

To don that frail solemnity,

They are the easiest of flowers to spread around the garden. Just dig up a clump when the leaves are still green but the flowers have faded. Divide it and replant small clumps where ever you want to see these special little flowers.

Its inmost self my goal.

And though in vain — no mortal mind

Across that threshold yet hath fared! —

In this collusion I divined

Some consciousness we shared.

Strange roads — while suns, a myriad, set —

Had led us through infinity;

And where they crossed, there then had met

Not two of us, but three.

                                                                                          Walter de la Mare

A New Year, Already?

I’m conscious that I should write a blog page but seem to have a bit of a writers block. So what should I write about??? Knitting? Web pages, I write and administrate two now getting Tech. cleaver in my dotage! My fancy new Home help called Alexa?

I wouldn’t have thought of investing in a home hub. I was never quite sure about its usefulness, even though I’m loving the age of technology. However since this Christmas present from No 3 son I’m warming to it. Being of a certain age the memory gets bit questionably at times now days. Well, OK, maybe more than a bit! Now, as soon as I realise I need to put certain things on the shopping list I just tell Alexa to add it. Great. No more getting home from shopping and thinking Damn I forgot the gravy granules, or whatever. No, with Alexa also linked to my phone I have the list with me when shopping. No more swearing because the list is still at home on the kitchen worktop either.

She’s proving useful when I’m cooking as well. Her timer is impeccable. Now when I put something in the oven I tell her how long I want to cook it and bingo, she’s spot on. No more fiddling with my little clock timer trying to set it. Or forgetting to set it as I was doing something else so I would then forget what time I put the food in the oven or on the hob.

She tells me what the days weather is going to be like and updates me with the morning news headlines. I can ask her to play me music for whatever my mood is. Or, if I’m really lazy she can read to me from the book I’m currently reading. She’s a fountain of knowledge, can tell jokes, ok, naff jokes. 

She should have been able to switched light on and off for me. But the sockets I bought so she could show my how cleaver she is wouldn’t hook up to my WiFi. But I’ll investigate other makes and will get her to let us switch lights on and off from our chairs. She could control our heating, our TV or let me see who’s at the front door, warn me of intruders, but the extra pieces of Tech needed would stretch the budget a little too much at the present, but watch this space. I’m hooked!