Ahh March, you are no longer with us and I miss you! April so far is being completely vile, we're in the grips of an icy storm, the wind is howling and it is s-n-o-w-i-n-g, blasted weather. I look through these deliciously springlike photos and I want it to be March again, March was soooo beautiful. The sky was often blue, and we had warm sunshine for the first time this year. It was quite glorious for much of the time, yes March, you were lovely.
My organiser calendar went all green, sophisticated and Continental for March. Made me think of a carefree time in my past when many moons ago J and I flew to Paris for a romantic March weekend. Searching through my memory banks.......oh cripes.....yeah, waaaay back in my youth....March 1995, seventeen years ago. Would love to go back sometime.
My ever lovely Ideal Homes calendar had this stunning image for March, it's been a true delight having this next to my desk to gaze at for a month. So beautiful, I find the sight of pink blossom really uplifting and good for the soul.
In my mind I associate blossom with May, as that's when the cherry trees in my neighbourhood flower. But in the past month I've noticed such a lot of early blossom flowering on trees all over the place, and it really is delightful. I don't have much blossom-knowledge so have no idea what sort of trees produce these gorgeous early blooms, but I love them very much. They are more delicate than the flouncy, frilly cherry blooms that come in May, I love their sweet simplicity.
My front patch crocus bloomed their little hearts out through early March, they were such a welcoming sight at the front of the house.
Forsythia sprang into action around here a few weeks ago too, there is lots of it around and about in my neighbourhood. I'm not mad keen on it to be honest (that particular yellow is a bit too shouty and acidic for me), but it's undoubtedly a real sign that Spring is well on the way.
In complete contrast to the indoorsyness of February, March was all about reconnecting with Outside. I love March for that very reason. I love stepping out of stuffy, cooped-up February and breathing in the fresh air of March, it's delicious. Lovely to start pegging out again too, it's a sweet domestic job that always fills me with gladness. Hooray for stripy garments flapping in the breeze!
Outdoor tea breaks also began again last month, oh the joy! I generally stop my outdoor pitstops sometime in October when my hands start turning purple with the cold. It's been lovely having enough warmth in the air to have the kitchen door propped open and a quick breather in the outdoors. In fact, I've really, really enjoyed all the domestic outdoorsyness these past few weeks :: the pegging out, the sunshine tea sipping, the seed planting, and the general feel-good brought on by warm air, blue skies and spring sunshine. I feel really excited about spending more time outdoors as the year progresses, about making my back yard into a haven of floral colour and greenery.
Floral colour has ben happening in abundance inside too, just look! Every Friday I stop by the market after picking up Little B from playgroup and treat myself to a modest bunch of fresh flowers. The tulips and narcissi that fill the pavement buckets at this time of year are brilliant, and represent great value for money. I can get quite a few bunches now for just a few ££, enough for me to fill a small jug for the table, pop four into my bathroom windowsill bottles, and have a few in a jar beside my bed. The roses above came from a surprise Mothers day bouquet. I don't wish to sound ungrateful, but I confess I am not a fan of commercial "mixed bouquets". If I am on the recieving end of one (not often), I tend to split them up, chop the stems short and arrange them into various small jugs instead of one over-the-top vase. Much more my style.
My photo album for March was full to bursting with pictures you know, it seemed like a very full-to-bursting kind of a month. When I'm putting my monthly round up posts together I like to try and capture the general feel of the months activities :: it was hard for March as there was so much! Lovely looking back and remembering the various outings we made :: local strolls, simple jaunts and proper full blown outings, it's been liberating to stretch our horizons beyond our four walls again.
Mind you, March also saw me get to grips with the Four Walls a bit, and I am so happy the Shelves of Doom were finally banished. It remains a highpoint of my year so far, truly it does. And that surprises me a bit, but it's true. I think it was as much about the way I was able to mentally and emotionally pull myself together to tackle this task as it was about the end results. A real Personal Achievement for a rather slovenly procrastinator. I really did it, didn't I? Still wearing ridiculous proud smile over that one, although my two crates are still there waiting, as is the pile of 51 books destined for the charity shop, so can't be too smug.
I had a hair chop in March, it was long overdue as I'd not been since the Blooming Flower cushion photos. That's eight months. I've got more grey hairs now, but I'm remaining true to my natural colour which is still pretty good. It feels lovely to have air on my neck again, I was looking quite shaggy and unkempt with my raggedy grown-out shoulder length do.
Hooky wise, not a lot to report for March, it was a quiet month on the hooky front. I kind of lost the will a little, I just didn't seem to want to do it for a while. I worked a little on my ripple through last month, but not a lot. I've got many, many ideas brewing for new projects though, it's quite tangled again up in my Creative Mind. I'll keep you posted.
So how's the Attic view been in March? Terrific, that's how. The light levels have risen dramatically, especially with the arrival of British Summer Time a few weeks ago, and I am so, so thankful for the extra daylight in my life again. Yeah, the view has been light-filled and lovely, take a look.................
I especially love that last photo, it was taken on 27 March at 18:20 after a day of the most glorious sunshine. I love the golden glow of the landscape at that time of day, I remember it made me want to rush out and frolic around in it (which I actually did, I took myself out for an early evening walk to watch the sun set and the moon rise, it was beautiful)
March was altogether a beautiful month. It was light and bright and upbeat, both indoors and outdoors. In March it became Springtime, and I was so ready for that change of season, was so over the winter.
Do you ever think of the year in terms of fractions? I do. I keep thinking wow, we are one quarter the way into the year now. Can't quite believe we're in the second quarter of the year already, but as this is my most favouritist quarter of all (April-May-June), I am more than happy with the progress. Bring it on, I'm ready to give it my all.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Edit to add :: A Question.......do you think I go on too much? Should I make my posts shorter/less wordy? Interested to hear what you think as I never give much thought to my posts in terms of how they read, I just write what I feel like writing regardless. ♥ oh that's ok then, thanks so much for the feedback and reassurance...will carry on with my ramblin' ways. Not sure I could do any different anyways?! ♥
