Easter March 2013

Easter March 2013

                                                    Crucified
                                                         Laid behind a stone
                                                         You lived to die
                                                         Rejected and alone
                                                         Like a rose
                                                         Trampled on the ground
                                                         You took the fall
                                                         And thought of me
                                                         Above all
                          Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us.                                        

                                          I Corinthians 5 v 7

March 2013

Spot the difference in the two pictures of the climbing hydrangea , taken a year apart. Last March was the third warmest on record. So what happened this year?

The jet stream. apparently. 

It is stuck South of the British Isles, so we are trapped in an area dominated by high pressure, freezing cold endless weather, and still very little sign of the real spring. The warmer weather is stuck tantalizingly out of reach. 

This weekend we change the clocks, moving them forward one hour for the commencement of REAL spring. What a joke! We still have snow on the ground and yet more Arctic temperatures for the foreseeable future..........sigh............        

March 2012
I saw a pair of blackbirds mating on our garage roof in the snow the other day! Their internal clocks have been triggered, lack of spring or not.
The wood pigeons are billing and cooing in wintry conditions, the males bobbing their heads up and down in the funny courtship ritual that is unique to them. Chasing away other males who make an approach. But I reckon their nests may need thermal linings!
My daffodils have been struggling to flower, and although I have seen them in bloom in other places, I am still waiting for their buds to unfurl.
Some of them having been flattened by the frost and weight of snow.  

28th March 2013

Forsythia March 2013

Forsythia March 2012

Meantime, I am slowly beginning to feel more like me. A lovely meal last night shared with friends at one of their homes.
That will be the subject of another post!
Watch this space........