The season changes quickly. After the long, bare months of winter and the held-breath pause of early spring, suddenly life returns to the world.
One month I'm studiously keeping track of each new sign (daffodils, crocuses, primroses), the next it seems that everything comes at once (willow leaves, nettles, oak leaves, wildflowers, migrant birds, lambs, calves, plenty of wild food). The transition into the abundance of early summer is less noticeable at the time, though on reflection the visual cues are there in Lake Field and in the trees and farmland beyond.
One month I'm studiously keeping track of each new sign (daffodils, crocuses, primroses), the next it seems that everything comes at once (willow leaves, nettles, oak leaves, wildflowers, migrant birds, lambs, calves, plenty of wild food). The transition into the abundance of early summer is less noticeable at the time, though on reflection the visual cues are there in Lake Field and in the trees and farmland beyond.
April
The fields near the white house have been ploughed and, presumably, sown.
Damp spring mist hovers over the hills, dew clings to the grass.
Ready, set, go! The trees are beginning to burst with pale green and yellow leaves.
Blue skies make a welcome return after a fairly grey month.
May
The roof has come off the barn (photo right), presumably as part of the work on the holiday lets.
I'm never sure when seasons start or end (in reality, rather than on a calendar), but this is definitely full-blown spring!
Cow parsley growing tall, grasses springing up, crops shading the fields in green. Can you spot the first hawthorn blossom?
May was a gorgeous month - lots of sunshine along with some rain - and it shows in the astonishing growth all around.
June
Grasses and wildflowers are taking over. Note the red (sorrel, dock) and yellow (buttercups) haze in the middle field.
After a glorious May, June was cool, damp and muggy. In this photo, the grasses bend under rain and the trees are tossed by the wind.
More wind, less rain - one of the few sunny days this month!
June stayed in character right to the end: rain, fog, drizzle, mugginess. The grass is very tall, but the seed heads are getting old and tired.
What markers of summer (or winter) are you observing in your patch at the moment?
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