The Rustle of Spring

Up until half an hour ago I hadn't a clue what I would write today. Well that's not strictly true, I had planned a post, written it, taken photos and then at the last moment bottled out! Does that happen to you, do you plan your posts, are you completely spontaneous or do you just see what the day brings your way? Anyway I walked away from the computer, popped to the shop, came back and started to tidy up. The batteries on my trusted radio are failing (I have Radio 4 on all day when I'm alone) and the house was still, apart from the birds singing away outside. And then I knew what I needed - some quiet.



Nothing loud, nor bright or too fussy. I was throwing away what was left of my Easter flowers when I rescued this beautiful ranunculus from the vase. I have always been fascinated by the shapes of flowers and plants, as a child I was fascinated by the symmetry of certain plants and now will stop and stare at an artichoke for ages. Not only had this flower survived in bloom for nearly two weeks but its beauty was intact. As delicate as the vintage sheet music she's sitting on. Those beautiful intricate folds of its petals - perfection.



Feeling a little upstaged by the flower, I sensed that Miss Blossom was feeling a little dejected. Here she is sporting her new spring bonnet (well not hers - I bought it for Big Sister who has a thing for hats, and looks gorgeous in all of them, from Niki who was selling a selection of lovely bonnets a few weeks ago).



Some floral brooches added to the spring picture and, in case you think her rather immodest, this being her second outing with no clothes, at one point she was fully clad in a beautiful white vintage dress but, alas, that "ample chest" of hers made it rather too tight a fit. This being a quiet kind of Monday I don't think I would have wanted to hear her sighs and mutterings in the corner as she struggled with her dress.



It's been a hurly burly kind of weekend, lots crammed in and an hour lost to the clocks. However, Little Sister got to meet Jacqueline Wilson at a booksigning, which made her day and more than made up for the three hour wait, Mr Ragged Roses was not a happy man. Big Sister had her dance show and was wonderful. So poised, long legged and graceful it was hard to believe that this was the same little girl who at the age of three had to leave ballet because the music scared her. Watching her on stage I wondered when this transformation came about, I know it was a gradual thing, somewhere along the line my little girl in the pink leotard became this beauty in top hat and jazz shoes!



So perhaps that's why I need my quiet. Some time to sit and think, some time for reflection and to remember how transitory things are and to learn to appreciate them while we can.