OUTDOORS
Forget All This Drama — It’s Springtime
A few hours pottering in the garden and I feel like a new man
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Haven’t we all had enough drama lately to last us a lifetime?
I keep starting to write articles about the current rise of global fascism, only to be overtaken by events which seem to move faster than I can keep up with.
The comic tragedy currently playing out on the world stage seems to become more preposterous on an hourly basis. By the time I get to the third or fourth paragraph, I’m usually overwhelmed and give up.
Today was different. Today was a breath of fresh air. Literally.
We’ve been building a huge aviary in the back garden for the two elderly cockatiels we adopted years ago. Their old aviary was in desperate need of an overhaul, and rather than trying to renovate it, we demolished it completely and bought a new one online.
It’s about 9' x 27' and came in about three million pieces. It’s taken us all winter to build it!
The cockatiels have spent the last few months enjoying the comfort of indoors. They have two rooms to themselves: a small bedroom with a window that opens into the sunroom, where they can enjoy the warmth of the afternoon sun and the panoramic views from the double patio doors.
Truth is, we’re going to feel a bit mean putting them back outside again!
But today, the sun was shining, and everything was feeling very Springy, so we thought we should make a concerted effort to try and complete the project for them. I don’t know whether they’ll appreciate it, but I certainly did. What a wonderful lift to the spirits a few hours pottering out in the garden can provide!
Ladybirds, recently emerged from their winter hibernation, were sunning themselves. I know some of you guys Stateside get irritated by the fact that we Brits call them ladybirds and not ladybugs. “They’re not even birds!” Well, they’re not bugs, either, so let’s call it quits.
The meaning of BUG is any of an order (Hemiptera and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects (such as an assassin bug or chinch bug) that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis
— Merriam Webster Dictionary
Crocuses, narcissi, camellia and some early cherry and blackthorn blossoms are adding colour and life as the earth wakes up from her winter slumber. A few bumblebees meandered from flower to flower before heading off to find a place to start a new colony.
But it was the birds that made my day. A pair of wood pigeons sat around watching us with interest, fat from the daily seed provided for them by one of our elderly neighbours. A heron standing erect like a sentinel on the edge of the wooded pond halfway across the adjacent field stretched his neck warily to make sure we weren’t a threat.
Buzzards, circling on the rising thermals, called to each other overhead and were answered by the raucous screams of gulls, made uneasy by the presence of such large predators.
But the greatest delight came from the birch tree right over our heads, whose still leafless wispy branches, adorned with fresh catkins, hang so low they caressed our faces as we worked. A mixed flock of blue tits, great tits, goldfinches and two tiny goldcrests busied themselves among the catkins, gleaning whatever succulent delights they could find there.
The tiny, high-pitched peeps of the goldcrests peppered the musical tinkling of the larger, more colourful goldfinches and the trills of the blue tits, like a chaotic yet none the less pleasing symphony to accompany our work.
Soon, the trees will be in full leaf and the birds harder to spot, although by that time blackcaps, garden warblers and willow warblers will be filling the garden with rich and beautiful song.
Butterflies will dance among the heavy cascades of buddleia blossoms, and the occasional dragonfly will hawk for gnats among the nettles and yellow flag irises.
But as wonderful as those summer days to come may be, there is something uniquely magical and rejuvenating about the first real days of spring, a vibrant and refreshing energy that gently washes away the winter blues and lifts the spirits like nothing else in this world.
And what better way to spend such days than pottering in your garden with the person you love?
“We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us”
— Jenny Uglow
