Happy things

Today the world is beautiful.  Alternating great heavy grey and purple rainclouds with grand white sailing ships of clouds, dazzling sun and sapphire skies.

A wonderful flash of forked lightning  shot through the storm clouds early this morning.

The cherry blossom is out and all the spring flowers.

The garden in front of our house faces north and is enclosed by a hedge, so it is cool and damp.  It grows like a little woodland dell, a mossy path and stones clothed in moss, a small pond and flowers sprinkled everywhere, some we have planted and some that brought themselves.  

All varieties of mint flourish there, and the primroses look at home.  Returning from just a few days away I felt such joy to see the violets in flower – lots and lots of them.  

I guess they must have been there all along, because we didn’t put them there, but when we arrived here the front garden had been covered with multi-coloured concrete crazy paving, so anything living just had to bid its time underneath.

The other thing waiting for me on my return was this:

Wonder of wonders! I wish you could feel the softness of these socks, the latest of Alice’s ongoing sock creation.  

They are made from alpaca wool spun by a women’s co-operative in Latin America, silky and smooth.

While we were away at the conference, we walked early one evening into the town of Minehead (our accommodation was on the outskirts) to eat at a restaurant.  We left around eight because the Badger had a professional appointment to keep, and strolled back through the dusk that was coming down to darkness.  The street had some trees planted along the edge of the road, and high in the branches of one of them, a nightingale was singing, the first real live one I ever heard!  Just the most glorious song.  I could see him – it really was a nightingale! We listened for a while then sadly had to go on – but when we got back to the conference centre, there in one of the trees another nightingale was singing – and the next two nights he was there again; such joy, a really rapturous sound.

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365 366 Day 102 – Wednesday April 11^th       

3D glasses for viewing 3D movies.  I prefer the 2D ones, so won't need these any more.