Spring is in the air

 It's so good to welcome the lighter mornings and hear the dawn chorus again....

Looking towards Bridport

Some mornings the frost and mist covers the landscape, but it quickly disappears and one or two fields are already missing out on a white coating. Have you noticed changes in the season too?

This week I celebrated my birthday, and as it was a beautiful day we headed off to Forde Abbey to search for signs of spring. It was such a contrast to the February I was born, when England experienced the coldest winter for 200 years and the country was covered in snow for 2 months!

There was an abundance of snow drops, but we were slightly too early for the magnificent display of crocus, which covered the edges of so many paths.

The witch hazel, hellebores and early daffodils were, however, a wonderful sight to behold!

A Cistercian abbey was built here between 1141 and 1148.  The monastery flourished for 400 hundred years, until the dissolution of the monasteries.  It was eventually converted into a home and the beautiful landscaped gardens were designed in the 18th century. Recently I have been researching the history of treating the sick. Monasteries played an important part in healing the sick by providing bed rest, cleanliness,warmth, food, music and prayers. Many also contained a herb garden and were also areas of medical learning.

The beautiful roof of the circular temple looked fantastic, reflected in the pool below it. I noticed that Forde Abbey are having a Tulip and Sweet pea festivals later in the year, so we will be returning to enjoy these special weeks.

Returning home I could only dream of crocus flowers, as I looked out into the garden. Last week in the market I saw some crocuses just coming into bloom. They looked so lovely that I couldn't resist buying them. Unfortunately I wasn't the only one who admired them, the day after I had planted the two pots only one remained! You can see the broken flowers and stems to the right of the picture and a trail of broken flowers leading towards the fence. I obviously supplied a good dinner to some neighbouring mice or rats! They were so tasty that the following night the other plant followed the same demise. At least I managed to save some of the flowers to enjoy inside!

I also had an accident when I was trying to take a picture of my Valentine bunch of tulips, I dropped the camera and the lens wouldn't shut! I have had numerous accidents with cameras over the years and so the last time I took out extra insurance to cover breakdowns and accidental damage. I was amazed when I took it to Argos to be repaired, to be given a brand new camera instead! They no longer had the original model, so we ended up with a better camera that had been reduced in price! The pictures seem so much sharper too.

Wishing you a happy week! Next week I will be doing another of my Through the garden gate series", so if anyone wants to join in maybe you can start thinking about your post.

Sarah x