The Circle game

Kim`s Hamamellis starts to put on leaf.

I used to be very fond of the song `The circle Game` which describes life as a carousel or roundabout. And one of the main events on this carousel is the circle of the seasons. As the Bible says, there is a time to sow and a time to reap and the seasons of the year succeed each other in a stately waltz.
  I love this process, even if it emphasises that with each season one is a year older!  The trick is not to anticipate trouble but to enjoy the ride.
  Here each season brings its own task. In Spring, it`s ploughing the veg plot with the cultivator, then planting out the chosen crops (this is Kim`s job, I just prepare the ground. ) Later, it will be time to shear the sheep before it gets too hot. As the temperature rises, the stove, which has glowed since Autumn  can be allowed to go out and be cleaned and its chimney swept ready for re-light in November. Summer is more a time for swimming and a trip to the mountains in June. Then Autumn is the time to preserve fruit, make jam to buy in or cut down our Winter wood stock ready for the onset of the colder days, when it is time to sit by the fire and look forward to our Christmas trip to Lille. Yes indeed, each season has its own unique flavour, and its the change between each season which brings interest to life and stops it from being dull.
  Yet of all the seasonal changes, I like the change between Winter and Spring, when the chill goes out of the air and life seems to re-start. Each sign is eagerly looked for, the first spring flowers such as violets growing in the hedgerows, the buds starting to swell on the trees, the first timid leaves almost yellow at first but soon turning a wonderful vivid green. On my way to Matha on Friday I saw that the Weeping Willow beside the stream at Cressé had put out its fronds, always an early tree. The birds also point the way, Jacqui has seen swallows at Loubillé and they will be here in a few days. We saw wild geese passing overhead a few weeks ago on their way to their summer feeding stations and the small sparrows and tits are starting to pair up. I saw large flocks of lapwings two days ago. In winter they are a sign of colder weather as they move South to avoid it. However I thing these birds were on their way North to take up their summer nesting ground. Even Phillipe`s goldfish, illegally introduced to the static fire reserve water reservoir, have increased and are feeding busily. Spring is a time of hope, of new life of promise of Summer days. I love it!

  Bye for now. Breakfast time!

Soon be time for the Quince tree to blossom.