In a Vase on a Monday: A la soupe!

Quite suddenly, almost overnight we could feel a change in the air. Although temperatures aren’t that high, there’s a palpable joy and lightness. The daffodils are flowering and 1000 glowing suns greet me in the garden and the woods. Today’s vase title was inspired by the French and their great love for food. At noon everyone drops whatever he or she is doing and heads to lunch, a most social and amicable affaire. I always say it’s their appreciation of food and the good life that makes the French such a happy lot. The expression ‚A la soupe!‘ translates ‚To the soup‘ and means ‚let’s go and attack‘ (the food that is ; ), so I’ve chosen a soup terrine for my display of Narcissus ‚Paperwhite‘. It’s a most charming daffodil but so heavily scented that we had to evict it into the garden. 🙂 Let’s celebrate daffodil time with William Wordsworth‘ beautiful poem:

I wandered lonely as a cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Thanks to Cathy for this inspirational meme – make sure you visit her to see what others have come up with for today’s vase!

 

 

Tales of the Woods

Winter is a good time for poetry whether you write or read. Summer is always such a busy time for a gardener that there’s hardly any time … A few years ago I stumbled upon poet Felix Dennis, once a wild child and (still?) enfant terrible, now a tree lover and one of the best contemporary poets I know.

With his book „Tales of the woods“ came a CD (and the promise that one tree will be planted for each copy sold) and to actually hear him reciting his poems is an experience not to be missed. His poetry is deeply touching, his observations simply beautiful; I often see myself…though I’ve never spent a sleepless night listening to rafters moaning and weeping for limbs long lost, either because I was too tired or more likely because I’ve planted so many trees already and they leave me in peace. Worried by the loss of nature and forest in the UK he founded the Heart of England Forest Project, a charity which is planting native broadleaf saplings on about 2000 acres in Warwickshire. He is full of contradictions and immensely intriguing. I love trees and often dream about having an arboretum filled with my most cherished trees (and there are quite a few!) but for now I have to make choices as our mules don’t fancy my ideas. Luckily, there are still some fine arboretums and wild places to visit and to talk to magnificent trees that have seen so much and will continue to do so long after we shall be gone…