Saturday 2nd April 2011

As I have been struck down by yet another horrible cold we had a very slow start to the morning. Fortunately after a couple of extra hours sleep I managed to drag myself out for a bout of frantic shopping for school project stationary, shoes etc before dropping Megs off for a friend's birthday celebration at "Stomp" in Brighton.

As the weather is def warming up the boys and I decided a nice stroll to the park was the order of the afternoon and it was fun to watch Phill and Si practising Rugby maneuvers while Nick Nick threw his own ball around and generally got in the way :0)

Walking to and from the park I couldn't help but be struck by how the English spring is defined by its flowers....first come the Crocus and Snowdrops in the middle of Feb, these little flowers stubbornly peak their heads above ground at the first sign of warming weather and help to lift the spirits tremendously after an often long and hard winter.

Towards the middle of March it is the turn of the Daffodils, which are fast becoming my favourite flower, the huge patches of yellow everywhere herald so much promise for summer and they are often accompanied by the beginnings of tree blossoms towards the end of the month.

Now, the beginning of April is the turn of the Tulips, I had never seen these flowers growing in the wild before coming to England and they make for a spectacular show with the vibrant reds, yellows, pinks, whites and purples. Next to come will be the Bluebells towards the end of May and the fields and fields of blue mirror the gorgeous skies as the summer finally arrives.

I am so delighted that the unwritten law of not picking flowers is respected by the majority of the population as it results in everyone being able to enjoy the beauty...my mom always tells me to stop and enjoy the flowers and never to take for granted how magnificent England is at this time of year, so that is exactly what I did today and I am feeling much better for it :0)