Wednesday 27 January 2010

First signs of Spring



Forget shell suits and tracksuit bottoms, for complete comfort and protection against the elements this season it has to be lightweight waterproofs. Offering ample gusset room and just the right amount of baggy in the leg, they'll give you all the benefits of cheap slouch wear, but with plenty more room for extra layers underneath, and they keep you dry...ish.

For a gardener/fisherman/snowboarder ensemble, I've added a skateboarders wool cap, over sized headphones and a fleece snood. Yep, its still cold and its still crying me a river out there, no matter how hard we try, if its raining we end up looking dirty, nasty and all kinds of filthy!

Finally, there is some movement towards Spring, the Winter Aconites are up, so too are the cyclamen, Hellebores and Snowdrops, creeping up through the leaf litter, and as of yet not really drawing too much attention. Galanthophiles though will be rejoicing their arrival following a 2-3 week delay, caused by the snow and frost over Christmas and New Year.

It's great to hear early birdsong, sweetly spilling from the mouths of skulking Hedge Sparrows and the odd 'yaffle' from the wise old Green Woodpecker. And how could I forget the Wintersweet, the glorious scent of this winter shrub blew through my head this afternoon as the rain drummed on my headphones and once again I became transfixed by Pink Floyd's 'Brain Damage'... "The lunatics are in my hall, the paper holds their folded faces to the floor, and every day the paper boy brings more", and " Got to keep the loonies on the path". Yeah, you can't get more Cambridge than that.


Early Hellebore after rain

Snowdrop from last year.

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