Saturday, February 23, 2008

Spring bulbs

It's a rather grey, wet and gloomy Saturday morning and the frosty, sunny days of the past couple of weeks are away, leaving a really nice memory of walking in the country wrapped up in scarf, woolly pully and gloves, scraping frost off the windscreen first thing in the morning and the skimpy silhouettes of bare branches outlined against pastel skies.

Suddenly the garden is starting to show real signs of spring growth. Last year I planted loads of bulbs and here they are, peering through the ground, snowdrops and crocuses already showing their delicate little heads, tiny daffs braving the frost and the climbing hydrangea budding wondrously. I am a bit concerned about the glorious camellia bush, which has hundreds of fabulous pink buds ready to come out. The frost may have damaged them, which would be a real shame, as they give a lovely show each March and really cheer up the garden - and me!

February is almost over and we are no doubt in for some more bad weather before March is out - The March wind doth blow and we shall have snow. However, there will also be some lovely days. Make the most of them and always remember that nothing lasts forever- good or bad... And on that profound and philosophical note, I shall end till the next time!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Endings & Beginnings

This image was chosen by A. when I gave him the name of this week's blog. He is into skateboarding and this has some connection with that. There is a tenuous link here as he broke his wrist skateboarding when we were down in Poole last October and we were considering moving there. And last week we decided to not to move there.... for various reasons but all the right ones - I hope!

So that is the end of a dream that has kept me going for some time, and which allowed me to dream big and consider things that I have not thought of at before. But I am a great believer in following your heart and also making the best of things and my heart is telling me that we should stay here - and pursue the dream here in the North West.

So now I am looking at the new opportunities available and the new beginnings that can be made in a place that, until recently, I had seriously considered leaving. And do you know, now that I am looking at things from a different angle, there are more positives than I had seen before, and I am even starting to get excited about life here.

So, my question today is - what ending might you need to face before you can really see the wonder of the new beginnings?

And Happy Valentine's Day if I don't get chance to write again before the 14th February. Did you notice the lovely pink heart in the image above? Lots of love - Zoe