Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Come for a Walk with Me

February can be a difficult month. The weather is usually cold and rainy. Christmas and the festivity of the holiday season is behind us. Spring seems a distant dream. And when we're out and about the landscape can feel bleak and dreary. Taking a walk is definitely not as enjoyable as it is in April and May, or October and November. But still, beautiful things are to be found.  

Sycamore trees against a clear blue sky


 Red cedar and dogwood trees

A majestic Southern Magnolia


 Cheerful dwarf nandina


 "Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour."
- John Boswell

Daffodils
"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."
- Gertrude S. Wister





The very fragrant Daphne plant

 "Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream."
- Barbara Winkler
Hellebore, Christmas Rose

 


 An ancient persimmon tree



And finally, white cows in the distance eating hay.

"Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November,
February has twenty-eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one;
Excepting leap year, that 's the time
When February's days are twenty-nine."

I just today realized it's leap year so we have one extra day to get through.
What are your feelings about February?




5 comments:

  1. I'm so impressed with your pictures. Nice quotes too. February used to be saved for me with skiing and then later, with ice skating, neither of which I still do. (The effect of too many Vitamin D poor years in the sun deprived Northwest on my bones.) But it is also one of my best friend's birthday months and planning our celebration and picking out her present (or sewing it - usually a Victorian Ball Gown) and making her card turned it into fun. I also used to be so tightly budgeted, that having fewer days to spend the month's funds was always nice. (Not a problem, now that I don't live in expensive Seattle.)

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  2. Enjoyed my walk through your beautiful countryside with you.
    It looks similiar to parts of the UK....I love the smell of
    the Daphne bush have had them in our gardens. Have never liked Hellehores' maybe because mine have never come to much!! note they seem to do well in the US.

    Are all the plants in the photos' taken in your garden? Ida

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  3. Beryl, thanks, I'm glad you like the pictures and quotes I used. Sounds as if you had an active life with skiing and ice skating. And sewing a Victorian ball gown is very impressive! I have visited Seattle and it does seem very expensive. From an economical standpoint, must be great living in Tulsa now!

    Ida, thanks for strolling with me. We have five acres so those photos were made without leaving our property. I have visited England and Scotland and really fell in love with the countryside there. So beautiful. And all those historic buildings, which we don't have so many of in the U.S. It seems hellebores are difficult to grow, but I just put mine in the ground and forgot them. Perhaps that's the key. As the season progresses, I'll post more photos of what it looks like in spring when the dogwoods and cherries bloom.

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  4. I forgot to ask if you got persimmons off that tree. As to the Victorian Ball gowns, my husband and I belong to the Sherlock Holmes Society, and at least once a year they have a fancy dress party in clothing from the era.

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    1. Yes, persimmons in autumn. The old saying applies: You can't eat them until after the first frost. I can't say as I really like the taste of persimmons. I understand that there's a variety of persimmon (maybe same thing?)called Medlar,popular in the UK. Is it used for pies or jam? Maybe someone has insight on this. The opossums seem to like persimmons.

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