Wednesday, March 21, 2018

A Welcome and a Farewell

Time to Welcome Spring

Daffodils blowing in the breeze at the side of the road, a warmer temperature in the air after our second bout of snow, bird song in the mornings, birds flying overhead with twigs in their beaks.  Buds on the shrubs and trees in the garden, also in the garden the first signs of wild garlic but no frog spawn in the pond as yet where only newts have been spotted so far.  I saw some wood anemones on our walk last week too.  Today we hit the heady heights of 7.5°C outdoors and we've turned the heating down a degree or two indoors.





I saw my first Comma butterfly of the year on Monday but probably not where you would expect.  We had travelled, part of the way in snow, to Spalding in Lincolnshire to attend the funeral and thanksgiving service of a dear friend, a friend of over thirty years.  Her funeral was held on what would have been her ninety third birthday.  She loved her town of Spalding and was proud of her Huguenot ancestry, she was a well known and loved figure in the town and the numbers in church reflected that.  As we sat awaiting the start of the service a bright orange butterfly flew up into the air, dancing above the heads of all of us, her friends, gathered there to say farewell.  It soared up into the dust motes highlighted by the sun which suddenly came streaming through the windows, its rays slanting down onto the stone slabbed floor. What a strange yet beautiful thing to see.


Above scenes from around Spalding the town our friend loved so much.

When we got home the snow we'd had all weekend had disappeared and today we were able to get out into the garden and start the clearing up needed after winter.  So farewell Winter, farewell dear friend and welcome Spring.  This weekend we must 'spring' forward into British Summer Time, the clocks will go forward an hour,  Spring is on the way!

24 comments:

  1. What lovely memories to have of your friend.

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    1. Thank you, we have lots of happy memories:)

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  2. Thanks for such a lovely post. Your account of the butterfly & your dear friend, made me think of her spirit being set free in a place she loved. Your clocks go forward & ours back, Easter weekend, so for us Autumn is on the way, although we've had such a late bushfire season & cyclones in the north, that I'm still unsure what is in store over the coming months. Have a lovely weekend in the garden & take care.

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    1. Thank you Susan. The weather has been quite unusual this year in many parts of the woeld, as we approach Spring, Autumn is on the way for you, I hope you too have a lovely weekend:)

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  3. I'm sorry about your friend. Those little blue flowers are still a few weeks off here. We see them in about a month.

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    1. Thank you William. I always look out for the Crocus which I love to see against the sulver birch trees:)

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  4. I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend but the soaring butterfly must have been a moving moment at such a sad time.

    It certainly feels a little more like Spring this week - we had frogspawn appear in the garden pond last week so I am sure you will get some soon. It is good to see more and more Spring flowers slowly appearing and I am sure I saw some Blackthorn in blossom today.

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    1. Thank you,RR it was quite uplifting to see the butterfly - many didn't notice it, although it is sad to lose a friend I could only be glad she was no longer struggling through each day and glad we had known her and been her friend, she was a remarkable lady.
      Frog update - we saw one in the pond yesterday and two or three newts too! Maybe we will have frogspawn later next week:)

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  5. Sad to say goodbye to an old friend, but spring says life goes on

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    1. Thank you Janet, it is hard to say goodbye to friends but as you say life goes on and it is good to look forward:)

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  6. I am so happy for you, that you are having these lovely signs of the Seasons actually changing. Because we here, are not, as yet.

    Lovely for you.

    And it will happen here, we just have to be patient longer. Which of course is usual. In my area, it is never wise to plant flowers, in till the end of May. :-)

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    1. Thank you, I hope you get those signs of Spring very soon, it does seem to have been a long old winter this year doesn't it?:)

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  7. What a lovely thing to have happened at the funeral, you'll always remember that when thinking of your friend. 😊

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    1. Thank you, Karen, It was strange as I always thought of our friend as butterfly like as she had so much to do and so many interests until the last year or two:)

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  8. So sad to say farewell to an old friend. As for the winter I'll not be too upset to see it depart and spring to take a firm hold on proceedings.

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    1. Thank you,John. It has been a very strange winter this year and I'm quite ready to see the back of it now:)

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  9. What a lovely story, it must have been a wonderful moment at such a sad time.
    I am so looking forward to spring up here in the North, can take a bit longer. But I don't think we are out of the woods yet.
    Amanda xx

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    1. Thank you Amanda, I think we have a bit more bad weather next week to cope with but hopefully Spring will find us soon:)

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  10. How wonderful to see the butterfly! A comforting message. Have a lovely spring weekend Rosie! x

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    1. Thank you Simone. Yes it was a happy and comforting message. Hope you too have a lovely weekend:)

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  11. Your post is beautifully written and touches the heart. You have lovely memories and with the butterfly soaring, a welcome sign that spring is on its way and new memories are to be made. I’ve been away for almost a month so busy catching up on my favourite blogs. :)

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    1. Thank you for popping by and for your kind comment. Spring keeps tantalising us with the odd sunny and warmer day then disappears again:)

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  12. I loved your description of the butterfly in church at your dear friend’s funeral. Thank you for sharing this special moment. Marie x

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    1. Thank you Marie. It was a lovely thing to see. I do hope the butterfly was able to eventually get out of the church allthough it was such a cold day it would have been warmer inside:)

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