What is your favourite spring celebration?

For me personally spring means the awakening of life after a long wet winter.

I like to walk down my garden at the beginning of April and listen to the birds in the hedges twittering away and building nests. I then stop to admire the blossom on my fruit trees, the rich profusion of creamy flowers full of the promise of pears and plums in the autumn. My rhubarb is also making a valiant effort to grow; the thought of delicious rhubarb pies crosses my mind. I then wonder over to my small pond and am happy to spot frog spawn, lots of frogs in the garden this year. The catkins on my cork screw willow look particularly fine, and I can see lots of buds meaning it will be full of lush green leaves soon. I make note of all the hard work I need to do to get my garden in order, remembering to keep an eye out for the hedgehog that hibernates in the old foliage of the shuttle cock ferns. I am happy to do the work as the garden brings me so much joy.

Spring is when I plant up my seeds, the feel of the compost on my hands is wonderful, I know that each of the little dry seeds I nestle into the compost will grow into a beautiful plant that will attract bee’s and butterfly’s to my garden through out the summer. Unfortunately a little mouse broke into my shed where I had stored a lot of my seeds and filled his little tummy over the winter so most of my seeds this year have been shop brought and not from previous plants.

Away from my garden the celebrations of Spring are in full flow, I like to drive through the public grounds at Chatsworth House and admire the lambs with there protective mothers, if I am lucky I will see some young deer. Closer to home in Queens Park the ducks have paired up and I know that there will soon be chicks swimming on the lake. The town is coming alive; the sun seems to rejuvenate the market traders who have stood out each market day through the winter, the pigeons are out in full force, but now I think about it they never went away.

Family wise, spring is full of celebrations. First there is Shrove Tuesday, a day I really enjoy, bring on the pancakes. Then on the 18th of March it was my wedding anniversary, a low key affair that brings back memories of my spring wedding, I can recall the daffodils from my wedding pictures with ease, the smell of daffodils reminds me of that happy day. On the 26th of March it is my husband’s birthday, he usually celebrates with the family, and we either go to a theme park or out for the day.

I also book my tickets for the Panto in April and for Waddington’s Air show, although these events are a long way off, spring is when I book my tickets. I also enjoy mothers’ day, as having two children of my own and five step-children means lots of cards and flowers, I also like to take the time to try and find a meaningful gift for my own mum and mother in law.

On a more personal note I woke up this morning just as it was getting light and I could hear the most amazing bird song, I can not describe the joy that brought me, I listened to the bird sing for ages till I fell back to sleep. I don’t know what bird it was but I really appreciated his efforts. When my Husband woke up he also mentioned that he had heard this lovely little bird and it had made his morning just that little bit nicer.

In conclusion, spring is not a specific celebration, it is the combination of the things I have mentioned and so much more, it is the promise of warmer days, lighter nights and more time to spend outdoors with family and friends.

Thank you for reading xx