Actually, I don't know if the skies I am showing you in this post are typical for spring, but I was looking for a headline for this post that had something to do with spring and skies, so here you are.
Thursday, March 11, the day my sister and I were finally able to visit the palace grounds again, we were heading west on our way back to our respective homes and found the evening light particularly beautiful:
This was taken when I was back home, from my bedroom window looking west:
Friday, March 12, a few minutes past 7 in the morning, view from my kitchen window:
A few hours later, out for a quick lunch break walk, forsythia and hawthorne in bloom:
The same day, 5:45 pm once again out on the fields for an after-work walk:
Last but not least, I have put up a few bits of spring/Easter decoration:
The bird's nest is a real one. Last year in summer, when the breeding season for most birds was over, O.K. helped his parents cut down the huge ivy growing on the facade of their house. It had become a veritable tree with big wooden trunks and sturdy branches, not easy to cut, but threatening to split the wall and generally getting out of hand.
This nest was high up in the ivy, and long abandoned; we believe it was a blackbird's home. I found it too beautiful to let it go along with the cut-off branches, and took it home with me, intending to use it for decoration next spring. And here it is, now holding a tin in the shape of a Fabergé egg, and a small artificial narcisse that was once included in a birthday parcel from England many years ago.
That first evening after we'd cut it down, the large colony of sparrows who used to live in the ivy were clearly confused, fluttering about, darting back and forth, looking for their usual resting places. I did feel sorry for them, but they are still around; close to O.K.'s parents' house are dense privet hedges and shrubs in their garden and the ones bordering theirs. The sparrows seem to have found new homes, and since we always hear and see many blackbirds around, too, I am not too worried about them, either.
These are nice atmospheric pictures. There is always a conflict these days between cutting down overgrown plants and depriving creatures of habitat. In our communal garden I was very sorry to see the bramble plants being tidied up - they will have better fruit this year but the tangled undergrowth protected many small birds from predators like the many cats around here. However, a large tree which had to be felled has been chopped into logs, with holes bored in, for solitary bees and the brushwood piled neatly in a corner to help invertebrates. So there is always something we can do.
ReplyDeleteA good idea to keep the logs as "bee hotels"! I see more and more of such offers for bees and other insects in people's gardens, in orchards and vineyards. We have learned a lot about how to balance things so that both gardeners and wildlife benefit.
DeleteMy beloved grandfather gave the (very) young couple a bird's nest. It was a lovely thought. Alas, whilst we sure did build a nest for a while, such is the call of nature, that the lure of future father-of-son made me take off. I don't know where on the Richter Scale of questionable humour (mine) you are. Upshot being, and it made me laugh (in an affectionate way) that shortly after we got divorced Number One had a vasectomy. Which is hard to come by at such a young age. He'd have made a great father - in a sort of absent minded way.
ReplyDeleteApropos of nothing: I envy you your walks with, and closeness to, your sister. Alas, about twelve years ago one of my sisters, the one closest to me, the person who ranked among the three most important people in my life (number one, by a long shot, obviously the Angel, my son) did something terribly shabby. Something that sent destructive ripples through our family of origin - to this day. She never made one attempt at damage limitation. Who'd have thought it? Took me several years of grief (and bereavement counselling) to get over it. Also taught me that it's easier to grieve for the dead than the living dead. Cherish what you have with your sister, Meike. Even as I type this now I can't help a wave of emotion washing over me. Loss. Our mother, most likely, has the romantic idea that we will fall into each other's arms either at her funeral or my father's. It ain't going to happen. Once she was so much to me; now I wouldn't touch her with a bargepole. One of the two true disappointments of my life.
U
What a sweet idea of your grandfather, to give you a bird's nest when you first started a family!
DeleteMy sister and I have always been very close, although as kids we fought a lot. We are only 14 months apart and have therefore had the same upbringing, went to the same schools, had the same teachers and so on. We are very different in character and do no always have the same opinion, or taste in reading material etc., but we share our set of values and general view of life, which makes us great company for each other. And: she likes to walk :-)
We're through the winter at last. Brighter days. Sowing seeds. Clocks change soon.
ReplyDeleteBrighter days for sure, but it's still (or again) cold here, with temperatures just below freezing point during the night.
DeleteYou do make the most of any nice weather by slipping out for walks! I admire how you go out several times a day to enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise. Good for you! And thank you for reminding me that I have to put my Easter stuff out!
ReplyDeleteFor the last two days, I did not go for walks, only popped down the road to the bakery and back. But I feel the need for a proper walk and, depending on the weather, will go out after work today, or maybe around lunch time. It's not been very nice outside so far this week, just cold, wet and windy.
DeleteI always enjoy pictures taken very early or late in the day when the light is changing. It seems almost magical. The decorated bird's nest is wonderful for Spring and could even be used for other holidays as well. My Mother used to put a real bird's nest in the Christmas tree every year and she always added a little artificial Redbird.
ReplyDeleteYes, morning and evening light has a magical quality, doesn't it.
DeleteHow lovely to have a real nest in your Christmas tree!
Gorgeous skies. Especially like the photos of the expansive skies when you are out for a walk and the clouds and sun put on such spectacular displays. Does a body good. :)
ReplyDeleteIt does, Mary, it does! After having been cooped up in my study, staring at computer screens all day, it feels so liberating to walk under those big expansive skies.
DeleteThese morning skies of March call for a German Turner: the later sky paintings of Turner anticipated Rothko; but neither Turner nor Rothko can compete with nature.
ReplyDeleteThe rescued blackbird's nest and narcisse are emblematic of Easter: the Faberge egg completes the picture. Oh to be in your corner of Germany, now that Spring is here !
The nest is worth a permanent place in your home, a thing of beauty and precision which Charles Darwin would have contemplated in wonder.
John Haggerty
I just wish spring was here also temperature-wise! It is rather cold, and yesterday was a day of all weathers - we had everything from sun to rain, sleet, snow and icy hail. The wind was gusty at times, making the second half of our after-work walk a challenge with everything that came out of those inky black clouds blowing straight or sideways in our faces.
DeleteThe nest is exactly that, John: a thing of beauty and precision.
I love the idea of the nest as a decoration for Easter - and the skies are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pat! I am glad I kept the nest.
ReplyDeleteThe evening sky was particularly atmospheric. I haven't seen any blooms yet - you are rather ahead of us (which isn't surprising of course). I think keeping the nest was an inspired idea.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, amidst all the wintry weather, I spotted a tree I believe to be an early apple sort in bloom.
DeleteThe nest was too beautiful and, in a way, touching to be thrown out with all the cut off branches.