Here in Oxfordshire the first snowdrops are out, daffodils are pushing through the soggy or frozen ground and finally in our garden the primroses are raising their delicate heads. At last!!
Every year I buy the first English daffodils which are such a cheery herald of spring. They are likely to be Cornish from a county I love and lived in for several years. Late winter or early spring brought forth daffodils in abundance; from gardens, the foot of hedges and verges to glorious golden fields of them.
The story goes that during the second world war the daffodil fields were dug over to grow much needed produce but rather than throw them out the growers poked them onto any verge, foot of hedge, nook or cranny where they might survive. And they did! I'm told that in more recent years it has meant that old cultivars were rediscovered and brought back into culitvation.
In my conservatory hangs a (amateur I think) watercolour of round cottages in Veryan, another lovely Cornish reminder, bought for next to nothing at a local Car Boot Sale near here. Legend has it that 'back in the day' the local vicar worried about the lack of work for the men in tough times, paid them to build these cottages and a few others. Round, so that the devil couldn't hide in any corners, and with crosses on the roof-tops to signify their link the The Church. The cottages inspired me to handbuild a number of my own in 1/24th to 1/12th scale. 'Blackberry Bottom' pictured is in 1/24th scale.
Back to the conservatory which comes into its own at this time of year. Once again our wonderful Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise) is coming into bloom. I've made my own attempts in miniature but you can't beat the original which is now 40 years old and ...can you believe it.....grown from seed.
In the background of the picture you can just see a miniature 'Willow Man' which I made some years ago from an armature fashioned from a wire coat hanger and wrapped in raffia painted (many times) with wood stain. We used to drive past the original just outside Bridgewater in the West country on a regular basis. Created by Serena de la Hey in 2000 and standing 40ft tall in open fields it has always seemed to me to be as iconic as Anthony Gormley's Angel of the North, which is truly awe-inspiring. Sad to see it is deteriorating and no longer in open fields - I hope it can be saved.
Also tucked up on the shelf are a couple of Flower Fairy plates - crab apple and hawthorn. I had more, but downsizing meant relocating some to the charity shop, but I kept these two favourites. My plant- loving, gardening Mother loved the books and passed it on to me and then the next generation of girls. How lovely to see that they are still so popular.
Stay safe, and thank you for looking.
Robin x
