Hot days

At last we seem to be in English high summer with high temperatures and high humidity. Although we have passed the  longest day, evenings are still light for weeks to come. The real change tends to come in September. It must be my age but it seems only 5 minutes since last Christmas! We'll blink and it will be Christmas 2015 and the nights will start to draw out again!

When we have long summer evenings it is all too easy to take them for granted. There is something nice about all the seasons: each has its own beauty. Of all the seasons, spring is my favorite with the cold winter gone and done with and new life in the earth.

Dark nights

Last night we put the clocks back in the UK to GMT. There is something nice about cosy evenings in during the winter but I always look forward to the clocks going forward again at the end of March, the promise of light evenings, spring birds and flowers.

It amazes me how short the winter usually is: we are only 7 weeks away from the shortest day and even by the end of January the evenings are starting to get lighter later.  By mid-February there is usually more than a hint of a new spring in the air.

Luckily in the UK every season has something good to enjoy.  I'd hate to live in a place where seasons and evening times barely change.

Autumn

It is amazing, although not too surprising, how just a few weeks can make so much difference.

Although the grass is still growing vigorously and needs cutting every week still, the nights are really drawing in now and it will be dark at 7pm very soon now. Some of the trees are turning golden.

We have had a very good summer and the autumn fruits and berries have been 4-6 weeks early. Most mornings I can still find wild blackberries on my strolls. I love all seasons - we are lucky in the UK to have 4 distinct seasons all lovely in their own special way. I agree with the Met Office seasons which, to me, fit well:

Dec, Jan, Feb - winter
Mar. Apl, May - spring
June, July, Aug - summer
Sept, Oct, Nov - autumn.

My favourite season of all is spring when things come alive again with fresh new growth and the migrant birds return from winter in Africa. In the meantime, let us enjoy autumn and winter for their special charms. On dry days, usually in January, the light is low and wonderful.

I hope next year that I am fit again. This year has been hard as I have been so unwell.

Spring has arrived

Feb 26th 2012 and it now feels as if spring has arrived already. After a week or so of very cold snowy days we have the garden springing back to life with bulbs pushing through, the birds singing and looking at nest sites and the grass growing. This morning I even cut my front lawn for the first time this year - just a trim to even out the growth.  March 1st marks the first official day of spring according to the Met Office, so not long now.