There is a cold wind blowing today and it is carrying hail and rainstorms with it but there are moments when the sky clears and the sun shines and it feels like Spring.
It looks like Spring.
The floor is covered in tiny little green things,
I don’t know what they are (but they are Ivy-leaved Speedwell) but it is all a jumble and there are lots of different species here,
I am just going to look at a few of them today.
Lesser Celandine, I know that we see a lot of it in March but it is just so lovely and you won’t get to see it in June.
Anyway, you know what they say? When you are tired of Celandine, you are tired of life….
What would you rather do?
That was an over long video of Fizz at her “Falling off a log” class. I try to be as supportive as I can, she is trying hard to better herself and in a couple more years she will graduate and be a Master of Falling off Logs.
Nobody said it was gonna be easy.
I will leave her practising because just a bit further up the track are the Primroses.
This is also where I grow my greens.
You can eat the Primroses, they have two good qualities, The leaves are quite crunchy and give a bit of body to a salad and the flowers are pretty (also they are good for you) but food requires another quality and that is flavour, Wild Garlic is my favourite salad leaf in the world and easily surpasses anything that you can buy in a supermarket. I love this herb.
Today I found a new wild flower, well, not new, I have been waiting for it. The first of my year, this is the Early Dog Violet.
I know most of what is coming and when to expect it. I can feel my birds wings beating as they return from Africa and I know there will be Orange Tips here soon. I know and I love these things. There will be Sweet Violets in a week or so and just after they arrive we will start seeing the Common Dog Violet (even prettier than this one) I love the Spring. Blackthorn may be in blossom already in places but it is always late here, it won’t be long and our Marsh Marigolds are out but only in the centre of the pond and I cant photograph them there.
Soon now the fields behind the farm will fill with thousands of yellow flowers.
I don’t suppose that you remember that from last year, do you?
Well, I do.I found out something about Fizz today but first let’s get this into perspective.
I came here to try and rent this flat on a dark November night. I was a homeless man with little going for me except an honest outlook and a brown envelope stuffed with cash. I was lucky and I was able to make a deal and as I left I noticed that they had a cat. (They don’t have a cat)
When I started walking her I asked what she was, I might have asked “what the heck she was” because my Dogs have been German Shepherds and Collies and I didn’t have any experience of Toy Dogs. I also asked how old she was and I was told about three years. Chatting to Margaret today, apparently she will be three next September. She was a yearling when I met her and that helps to explain how stupid she is.
Nevertheless I have come to love her. (I also love quite a few Beetles and worms)
I am just going to finish this. On the way home she wanted to play the “Gate Game.”
That’s a great post, except I thought you said she was stupid. Probably I had something in my eye as I read. Who won the Gate Game today? The bees on the flowers, what amazing photography. We can almost feel the fuzz on them, or hear them buzzing. Thank you for all the great things you share with your readers.
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Thank you Sarasin 🙂 It is not about the winning, it is all about taking part. Well that’s what Fizz says 🙂
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“I was a homeless man with little going for me except an honest outlook and a brown envelope stuffed with cash.” Well the boy done good” as I believe they see in the footie world. You have inspired a lot of us (free of charge) and made a star of Fizz. Not bad I’d say.
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Thank you Andrew 🙂 I wish it was a done deal but life goes on. The envelope gets flatter and my life remains unsettled. I sometimes wonder what will become of me. It is a good job that I have a sense of adventure 🙂
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Do you remember Jack Hargreaves, Colin? He was on How and some wildlife programmes. I’m sure you would make a good presenter perhaps even with Fizz in tow. Are there any local papers that would host a nature notes column? Get yourself interviewed by the local rag. I hope the future is kinder to you. You have found many friends and admirers here.
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Those thousands of yellow flowers in the field are among my favorites. I use the young leaves in salad and the blossoms for making wine. Unfortunately, the manicured-lawn-people want to wipe them out, so the pesticide-free ones or any ones are getting harder to find in a town or city.
Fizz is not a toy, but a jewel. I’ve always had big dogs and shunned what I call little-old-lady dogs. But Fizz is a real doggy dog, causing me to reconsider my prejudice against. Maybe it’s because of your influence?
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Thank you Cynthia 🙂 I really like the underrated Dandelions, when they are out in force the fields buzz with excitement. Fizz has surprised me she is not what I expected from a Shih Tzu. She is quite passionate about getting muddy, playing games and walking.
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I love the Fizz videos and the flowers are glorious as always. I agree with Andrew – you have given such pleasure to so many people. Thank-you, Colin. ❤
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Thank you Clare 🙂 Those are very kind words and I appreciate that.
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My pleasure as always, Colin 🙂
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I enjoyed your walk through the jungle. Our native flowers haven’t started blooming but the trees, pear ,cherry, flowering quince and the forsythia and Magonlia are out. The high mountains got snow a couple days ago.
http://idahobluebird50.wordpress.com
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Thank you Betty Louise 🙂 Once again we managed a whole winter without any real snow. You miss the things that you haven’t got.
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I love the Lesser Celandine, such a beautiful flower. The photos in bud are wonderful. I enjoy seeing your spring flowers, it distracts me from the 8″ of snow still in the yard. Fizz is a dear, loved seeing her play with her beloved ball, she is a quirky little thing in the games she plays. However did she come up with ‘Gate’ and ‘Keep Away’? She can’t be all that stupid! 😉
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Thank you Eliza 🙂 Fizz has so many games, usually inspired by some feature of the landscape. She loves to climb on things, anything. Her games don’t always have to involve me, her latest game is “Secret Agents.” This is about hunting for moles but it is more about demolishing the molehills and rolling in the dirt. It is funny to watch, I shall try and video it 🙂
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Would love to see her antics – she is so entertaining!
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I love Fizz so much!! It was funny to see her balancing on those logs 🙂 I wonder why she liked that so much 🙂 It was funny when she had two legs on each side of the logs trying hard to balance 🙂 Reminded me of a little child who wants to balance on every fence, curb, or log in sight 🙂 🙂
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Thank you Trini 🙂 Fizz climbs on everything that she can find. I think that she sees these obstacles as furniture of the forest and she knows that she is not allowed on the furniture. It doesn’t matter how uncomfortable a thing is to sit on, it is being naughty and that is always worth doing 🙂
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Hihihihihiihi 😀 Yes 🙂 🙂
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Wildflowers are one of my passions. I thoroughly enjoy seeing the ones in your area!
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Thank you Terry 🙂 My passion too. I hope that I find some new ones this year 🙂
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Wonderfully clear photos. Am not sure my new secondhand camera is going to be up to that clarity . Love your knowledge of the wild flowers . Still working hard on that myself having been a townie. Glad you now have a home near some wonderful woods.
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Thank you Georgina 🙂 Didn’t you get an FZ200, that is the camera that I am using? Or is my memory playing tricks on me? Your bird photographs are good.
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I have to say it didn’t SOUND like spring…
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Thank you Maureen 🙂 That is the English weather for you. It is pretty predictable and always mildly disappointing.
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I adore your Fizz and your flowers. I saw her among some dandelion … the dreaded flower in this country which is considered a weed. We gathered the fresh, young leaves for a meal when we sisters were young. The insect photos are winners as far as I’m concerned. Again, Colin, a grand Post. Thanks.
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Thank you Ettel 🙂 I think that all of my wild flowers are probably weeds but it is the weeds that put the life into the countryside and support all of the little insects that we depend on. I love seeing the mass flowering of the Dandelions out in the farm fields. It is a spectacle just like the Bluebells in the woods.
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Hi Colin, this is such an honest account of your situation. Glad that Fizz is there to keep you company and busy. Thank you for sharing your botanical knowledge and interesting photos 🙂 Take care, all the best 🙂 Regards, Iris
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Thank you Iris 🙂 Yes it is a good job that I have Fizz to keep me busy. She has just learnt that if she can escape from her own garden then she can come and scratch my door. Great, no more waiting for him to come to me 🙂
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Early Dog Violet. I’m smitten. AndI love dandelions. I always have. They are wonderful. Your flowers are so beautiful.
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Thank you Gigi 🙂 Hopefully you won’t get too tired of Violets over the next few weeks. I am expecting to see a lot of them 🙂
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I have come to realise that dogs are just dogs and it is often the types of owners that choose certain breeds that can create the stereotypes. I hope that you get where you want to in life, but in the meantime, enjoy the journey.
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Thank you RR : I must admit that Fizz doesn’t fit any of the profiles that I read about Shih Tzu’s. She just isn’t a “long silky haired lap dog that doesn’t require much exercise but needs constant grooming.” Where does that come from 🙂
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Somebody’s perverse fantasy of a dog!
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No, I have never heard that expression about the celandine!😄
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I get a great deal of enjoyment out of your posts, Colin. Your humour and knowledge are very entertaining. Fizz is lovely too of course! Sometimes I think of your posts as like a TV show really. Informative and funny with an adorable furry critter thrown in as well. Thank you for giving us so much pleasure. 🙂
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Blackthorn is out in London. I went on a wildflowers walk yesterday and thought of you. Would learn so much if I could tag behind you and Fizz!
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