the running wave

Time is a precious thing and so an extra day, courtesy of a leap year, is to be relished!  Even better, it's a sunny day today, after weeks of very cold high winds and rain.  Here is how the garden is growing on this bonus day of 29 February. The border in the inner garden is beginning to stir with some three year old wallflowers starting to bloom, roses, bulbs and perennials are showing new shoots, flowerpots and containers are looking pretty. We have a tiny little snowdrop wood!  At this time of the year it is a joy.  Once the snowdrops fade it is just a dark carpet of green ivy, until next January.  The outer garden holds more treasures and signs of approaching Spring.

At lunchtime today, the dogs and I had a bracing walk back along the coastline from the gates to Gosford House to our home.  A bitterly cold wind was tempered by some sunshine, and the wind chill did not deter one or two kite surfers. By sunset, afternoon clouds had blown away and in a clear blue sky Venus, the evening star, appeared with the crescent moon.

At last!  We have blue skies, sunshine, a smidgen of warmth from the sun felt through icy winds, and it is all so very welcome (except for the icy winds).  My default walk, when feeling rather stressed and generally preoccupied with the state of the world and all those things I can do absolutely nothing about, is to walk in the grounds at Gosford House. Come with me on my walk yesterday afternoon, through woodlands where all you can hear is the sound of the wind through the treetops and birdsong.  On past a plantation of wild cherry trees, early daffodils, carpets of snowdrops, the lily pond, pretty pink blossoms clutching the promise of Spring, and accompanied along the way by a heron.  It will be uplifting, peaceful, and tick every single box associated with a very good walk!  Let's go!