Snowdrops

The snowdrops are in flower again, heralding the approach of spring. A week ago they were in bud, and a couple of fine days last week seems to have brought them fully into flower. It never ceases to amaze me how such fragile-looking flowers can be so tough.

A host of golden daffodils

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:—
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company!
I gazed, and gazed, but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

--William Wordsworth


Okay, so these daffodils are growing alongside a village lane rather than on the romantic shore of Ullswater, and I doubt there are ten thousand of them, but they look none the less cheerful for that. Hooray for spring flowers.

Tra-la, 'tis spring

I managed to get out on my first long bike ride of the year at the weekend (despite all my best intentions, I rarely get further afield than the shops and the library during the winter). Our route took us through the pretty village of Brent Eleigh, where the bank outside the church was thick with primroses and dog violets.

The village also sports this rather handsome village sign, which appears to feature a knight in shining armour with a pigeon on his head, apparently being barbecued. I have no idea what its significance might be. The 'Brent' in the village name means 'burned', which would explain the flames, but what's with the knight and the pigeon? "Frying to-Knight", maybe? Knight and pigeon pie? Is there a legend that the village seigneur once annoyed the patron saint of pigeons and this represents him getting his just deserts? Anyone care to hazard a guess?