Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Thursday 24 February 2011

Wake up!

Did you notice? The switch was thrown today and flowers opened, ladybirds and bees appeared, the air felt ever so slightly warm, the sun shone and birds sang.

There have been hints of spring, the occasional sunny day, winter aconites and snowdrops, a robin singing; with a chill wind blowing that wasn't proper spring . . . but this is!

Ladybirds are everywhere!
Crawling out from the crevices they've
hidden in
over the long cold months.


The feral honey bees that took up residence
in our next door neighbour's high chimney

woke up today and buzzed around in a cloud

before finding flowers to feed in.




Last year I made some videos in The Wild Wood (our small patch of woodland that is our window onto the outside world) today I thought I do another film to record The Wild Wood waking up on the first proper spring day of 2011.




Tarragon is so busy supervising his little flock!
The under-gardeners and Spice Girls are

all laying again after their winter break.

There were four eggs in the nest today :-)



Celia
x




16 comments:

  1. Indeed, ladybirds seem to be everywhere just now, no sign of bees yet though

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  2. Just a thimbleful...

    Yes, it has been a lovely day today - so nice to see the sun and all the buds coming through. We bought our £1 nesting box from Scotsdales yesterday and George put it up this morning. He went to put the ools away and when he came back for the ladder there was a bluetit already inspecting the property !

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  3. Didn't it just feel lovely outside today - the smell of spring was there too (if you know what I mean).

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  4. The sun eventually came out in Norfolk and it was warm enough to have the door open so that Higgins was able to pop in and out to his hearts content! Loved the little film, especially your girls. I've just found out you are going to be at the Pick'n'Mix Market which is lovely news! P x

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  5. Hi CGF - isn't god to know the ladybirds survived the snow and ice!

    Hi Mavis - golly! that bluetit was quick off the mark.

    Hi Su - it was! you could feel plants growing.

    Hi Penny - I had my studio window open for a while and the furry assitants just had to keep going in and out through it! Yes - looking forward to Pick'n'Mix :-)

    Celia
    x

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  6. It's been lovely today - we're down in East Sussex and it was positively balmy! Definitely felt like spring. Let's hope it lasts ...

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  7. It's been gorgeous in Buckinghamshire today too. I had a little walk and a Long-tailed Tit flew into a hedge right in front of me a just hopped about for about three minutes, it was magical. Your girls and Tarragon are looking spiffy.

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  8. Yes! What a lovely day! (In South Norfolk) Bedroom windows open and lots of gardening felt so good! Happy to see a frog in the bed I was tidying, too. A few ladybirds, no bees, but millipedes in the lupin stems so I couldn't be too tidy.

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  9. Hoped for Spring today-we've got the animal action-frog spawn, bird song, and the flowers, but alas the sun was only a fleeting visitor. Good to see your pictures to remind me what it looks like.

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  10. First bit of sun here in over a week and I found huge numbers of ladybirds when I did a bit of garden tidying this afternoon.

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  11. Today was wonderful - windows open, washing on the line and best of all no need for hats/scarves/gloves :) Long may it continue.

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  12. tarragon cuts a fine figure, doesn't he? am *so* incredibly jealous right now: weather for my area is cold rain, possible flooding due to heavy rain melting the last 12" of dirty snow...nary a bloom or ivy leaf in sight. enjoyed the soundtrack to your video. yea! you're on fb now.

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  13. Happy Springtime to you and the Spice Girls. I hope those pesky Harlequin ladybirds don't put in a show.

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  14. Your ladies look so happy - ours are still wading in mud and are not so cheery. I thought the switch was flicked on Thursday, it was a glorious bright sunny day - but it seems to have been a blip up here as we have been on the recieving end of a lot of heavy grey cloud and even more rain. Send us some spring please :)

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  15. Beautiful photos! I'm longing for signs of Spring, however we still have 2+ feet of snow in the yard! March 20th can't come soon enough! Thank you for sharing your Spring photos!

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  16. hi,
    just stumbled on your blog. just wanted to say lovely chickens.

    we always take in ex-battery, and although im more than happy to help them, they never look pretty.

    any way just wanted to say hellp

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