I'm currently living in the Winterfold for 2 weeks of forest immersion. The photo above is taken on the footpath up into the forest. I am here to open up Dad & Sally's house before they return from New Zealand. Dusting away the cobwebs and wiping off flies, detritus and mould from the windowsills. Vacuuming. Scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floor. Letting in fresh air.
And when I am not doing that I am walking in the woods and watching them wake up into Spring. Spring cleaning & Spring Watch! The air feels warm, the ground damp. There is a filigree of blossom lacing some of the vegetation. The birds are noisy. Insects have come out of their hibernation. The bluebells have not opened out yet but they will very soon. Then the leaf cover will come in and suddenly the whole horizon will change.
This weekend the clocks Spring forward and we officially leave Winter behind. If you live in Britain you might be interested in watching Nick, owner of Albury Organic Vineyard at 6pm on Sunday on the BBC's Countryfile. It is that time of year when the grape vines start budding and the delicate young buds need protecting from frosts. A team of volunteers are on standby to light candles underneath the vines to warm temperatures up and keep away the damaging frost in the early hours if needed. Being a BIODYNAMIC vineyard, I think this might also be the time of year when the cow horns are dug up and the fermented contents spread as fertiliser on the soil around the vines.
(Remember back in October I wrote a blog post 'On the subject of romance' and the day I spent picking grapes at Albury vineyard. Click on the link if you want to reread it.)
So this week I thought I would write about Mothering Sunday which happens here in Britain on Sunday. I could have written a piece exploring the issues of celebrating Mothers Day without a Mum. It could have been a post about being a single woman annoyed that she can't celebrate being a mother herself. But this wouldn't be completely true since I have 3 little people in my life who keep me busy. My world looks like a colourful mixture of part time Mum, Nanny McPhee and Mary Poppins. With a dash of Truelly Scrumptious from Chitty Citty Bang Bang thrown in to spice things up !
However I've decided to give myself a break from all the soul searching since I covered much of this last year. 'Rose lipped maidens : Mothers daughters & all things feminine' was the result. Click on the link if you want to read more.
( I used to write such long blog posts! Rereading this I can see how I let myself ramble all over the place. Sorry. )
Anyway, roughly 2 years ago I tentatively wrote my first blog post on the subject 'Spring tide on the River Thames.' A piece written around the theme of the Oxford / Cambridge Boat race held over the Easter period. That was a nearly 100 blog posts ago !
Who'd have thought it. I've lasted for 2 years and written 96 blog posts.
Since then I have written on subjects based around Creativity, Travel, Country Living and Christianity.
WIX have very kindly built a monitoring system into the website so I can monitor these results. ( Sorry everyone, it is true, BIG BROTHER is watching you!)
Looking back at the statistics, my most popular post was 'Wisdom, waiting and singleness. ' Surprise Surprise. Either all of my readers are in the same boat as me. Or they are forwarding my posts to others who might relate.
Next big hit was ... 'On the subject of Romance.' No real surprises there. We all long for some magic in our lives. Those moments that sparkle and allow us a break from the mundane. (This is the one based around my day picking grapes at Albury Vineyard.)
And in third place ' Brexit - History belongs to the Intercessors.' Big subject and we are still right in the midst of it. I have lost track of what is going on right now but I do know that I played my part and laid a foundation in prayer.
The other subject that seems to have captured everyones attention were my posts on moving to France, following my brother's family and their move to France. It has now been a year since they moved and in a couple of weeks I will go back out to celebrate with them.
Over the two years I have swung away from posting lots of photo's and now focus more on the writing. I am trying not to ramble on so much and keep these posts more compact. It is easier if I use words and not images for smart phone followers, however as WIX reveals, the majority who read this do so on a laptop. And the map of the world that pins where readers are located shows that the majority of readers come mainly from England, America & Australia.
When I started this website and these blog posts I was excited and hopeful. I set out to write once a week as a creative outlet and a form of discipline. I didn't think I would run out of things to talk about because life is so interesting and constantly changing. What I wasn't sure about was if anyone would bother to look at my stuff.
But you have and for that I THANK - YOU. Without you readers all of this would have been pointless.
I am opening a bottle of French Champagne on Friday to celebrate this milestone. If you live locally you are welcome to join me. I will be snuggled infront of an open fire at a slightly crumbling semi - detached cottage in the Surrey Hills with a lopsided solar panel perched precariously from the chimney!
