Friday Favourites

 

Spring is singing in my blood today, and the lure of April is 

abroad on the air. I'm seeing visions and dreaming dreams,...That's 

because the wind is from the west. I do love the west wind. It sings 

of hope and gladness...

L. M. Montgomery

We're enjoying a lovely stretch of sunny weather. I've done a little puttering in the garden this afternoon and did some hand watering of sweet peas, spinach, and lettuce. The strawberries are beginning to bloom, a most promising sign. 

I've been thinking about lists and how much I like to make them. It's apparently innate, as our brains don't like open loops, according to this article. I write lists of things to do, groceries to purchase, meals to make, seeds to plant, and more. More often than I like, when I go to the grocery store, I discover that I've left the list on the kitchen table. However, just the act of making the list helps me remember and I usually come home with everything I need. 

Recent lists I've made just for fun include Memorable Places Where I've Swum, and All the Houses I've Lived In. 

I started a novel called The List of Suspicious Things by Jenny Godfrey, but had to stop reading it because it dealt with violence against women, with some graphic scenes. It is a fictionalized account that takes place in an historical setting in 1979 when the Yorkshire Ripper was active. 

I've not completed a book in the past week, but have dipped in and out of a number of compilations.

The Country Commonplace Book

by Miranda Mills

This book, organized by the seasons, is full of recommended reading lists, a few recipes, poems, and short selections. I love it!

The Quiet Center

Women Reflecting on Life's Passages from the Pages of Victoria Magazine

This book of essays was published in 1997, and continues to inspire me. Most recently I read Pansies for Remembrance by Judith Thurman. She began telling of her mother's love for pansies, then moved on to a visit to Italy where she first heard of Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa), and finally to Dinesen's garden in Denmark. 

When I have finished this post, I will begin re-reading The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim, a spring classic. 

We took our friends to Butchart Gardens earlier in the week. Daffodils of many varieties continue to bloom, and Tulips! Great swaths of colour with beautiful underplantings. 

I've never seen Tulips like the ones above, almost spider-like! They made a striking display. All of the above photos were taken at the Gardens. 

Spring has a special effect on us in the valley. The whole 

beautiful world invites us out, and we have an urge to wander. The gentle, rolling hills, the clear, winding brooks, the bright, rushing streams: all are filled with the rhythm of life and we move with it too.

Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Calendar

At our daughter's property, bluebells grow in waves of blue among the green of their wild areas. Their long term plan is a Blueberry and Raspberry U-pick farm. Tim helped fence their three-acre property to prevent deer from chewing on the plants which are due to arrive next weekend. 

Tomorrow is my father's 92nd birthday. I left a gift with my mother when we visited 10 days ago, and I'll certainly be calling to congratulate my dad. Now I'm off to read my book, and perhaps make a cup of peppermint tea, a lovely way to wind down the day. At 8:30 the sky is streaked with colour and the light is softly fading.