Wednesday 29 April 2015

The soft smell of Spring...........

 It rained yesterday, soft rain, that penetrates the earth.   As I walked the garden, I took in the fragrance of rain hitting dry earth...........
 One of my favourite books is the Moorville Hours by Katherine Swift.     Lets take a brief stroll around the garden, along with an extract from the book.
 Even the rain smells different.   April is the month of sunshine and showers, rainbows and reflections, of small, puffy white fair-weather cumuli which bubble up into cauliflower-headed cumuli congesti behind your back and take you by surprise.
 Intent upon some late pruning, I hear the rain before I see it, rattling on the leaves in a rising wind.   'Only a shower', we say sniffing the air.    And it is gone, as quickly as it came, with ragged fragments of sky left in the puddles on the drive and a glaze of silver on the rose leaves.
 Falling from high altitude, short and sharp and heavy, the rain brings a whiff of ozone from the upper air, a hint of the sea; soon over, unlike the steady downpour of February.
 Indoors a shaft of sunlight is reflected from the bevelled edge of a mirror and shatters into pieces on the floor: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
A rainbow spans the valley, one foot on Shirlett, and other on Meadowley: Iris, messenger of the gods.   She bore a child of the rainbow, fathered by Zebhyrus, the West wind.

For it is - of course - a love affair, this passion for one's garden, and the very smell of it intoxicates, like the smell of a lover.


I leave you with that thought.....happy gardening :)

18 comments:

  1. What a lovely passage, it certainly does bring to mind April showers. I think it's at this time of year when rainfall changes from the freezing icicles of winter to the more gentle and warmer showers of spring. Your garden is looking beautiful.

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    1. Thank you Jo.
      I love warm rain showers.......sometimes if it is soft gentle rain, I continue gardening.....such is the joy of a garden :)

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  2. Beautiful Cheryl, wonderful garden pictures and the words........... We have been to Morville 3 years ago and I bought the book The Morville Hours when we were there, it is a real gem. I love her writing. In the meantime I've also read The Morville Year and another book about Roses is coming out soon, I can't wait.
    At this time of year it's so fresh and new in the garden that I often walk around dreaming in wonderment, but I have to get on weeding, mowing and fertilizing, haha.

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    1. Thank you dear Janneke.
      I love her writing to. I have read this book so many times I must know it by heart :)
      I did not know a book about roses is soon to be released.....I must be certain to buy it.

      The basics of gardening bring us back to earth with a bump.......still plenty of time to dream though. We should all take time to dream, don't u think :)

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  3. Your garden looks so lush...beautiful. I like the excerpt from the book. This author describes so well the look, feeling in the garden. I think you have shown a view I have never seen in your garden. Looking back at the house. Lovely. April was good to us this year. Welcome May... Excuse me now while I go sniffing. :)

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    1. Ha :) Lisa, you are so funny and always leave me with a smile :)

      The view you mention is at the end of the woodland walk, that leads into the copse..........

      The garden is lush.......and a lot of that is weeds. I have never seen so many in this garden !!

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  4. I find forget me nots delightful, my favourite flower I think. They are never around for long enough, although they are putting up a good show round here.

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    1. They are delightful little flowers Simon I agree. They self seed everywhere and I am very happy that they do........

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  5. Glorious post Cheryl - what lovely pictures and the words just perfect.

    We need the mix of sun and showers to bring the gardens into utter delight. It is so worth the work, and others in 'blogland' can enjoy your garden too.

    Here's to a glorious May it will soon be here.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan...............sunshine and showers are perfect for the garden at this time of year.

      May is here, where do the months go ?

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  6. Glorious post Cheryl - what lovely pictures and the words just perfect.

    We need the mix of sun and showers to bring the gardens into utter delight. It is so worth the work, and others in 'blogland' can enjoy your garden too.

    Here's to a glorious May it will soon be here.

    All the best Jan

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  7. Morning Cheryl,
    Oh how I wish I could write like that - a beautiful passage that describes rain in the garden perfectly. I too have read the book many times and decided to read it again after reading this post - but I can't find it anywhere - disaster - I think I may have lent it to someone and they haven't returned it - but I'm blowed if I can remember who. I am sure I will be able to get another copy on my next book crawl around the shops.

    Such lovely pictures of your garden - which seems to be endless - with always something different to look at. No wonder you spend so much time out there.

    Have a lovely weekend. How are your injuries by the way - hope the chiropractor got you sorted.

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    1. I will let anyone borrow my books........with two exceptions. The magic apple tree and the Moorville Hours. They stay by my bedside.............and I expect they will forever. I am totally attached to them.

      I am much better.....thank you for asking. I have been resting........orders given by the osteopath. I have found it very difficult but have been a good girl :)

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    2. How strange - The Magic Apple Tree is another book I have read many many times - and if I were stranded on a desert island would be the book I should like with me to remind me of England and home.

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  8. I remember you gave me this book and how amazing all her description is. It is not easy to put these feelings and sensory expressions into words; I wish I could write like that, too. Your photos fit the passages perfectly! Your garden looks so lush and green--obviously it is enjoying the soft rains of spring.

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    1. The garden is enjoying the rain Rose. It needed it, we have not had rain for around six weeks.............the garden was becoming very dry.

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  9. What a wonderful post, Cheryl. Lovely photographs and lovely words. So beautiful.

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    1. So good to see you back.............hope you are feeling much better.

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