Thursday, March 3, 2011

Awaiting Spring.............



I'm always anxious, like most people, for the weather to warm up after the long Winter months.  I do not however like really hot weather........88 degrees here a few days ago was just a bit uncomfortable!

After all, who in their right mind has appropriate hot weather clothing at the ready to throw on in February? Closet cleaning is now in session here at the cottage.

Good thing was the heat allowed opening the grimy windows and feeling fresh air waft in, followed by slamming them shut and cranking up the air conditioning when we started feeling miserably warm (apologies to dear friends still looking at snow). Yes Spring is definitely in the air here.


Home in Springtime!  Oh how my heart aches to be in Devon when the loveliest season arrives.  The brilliant green grass where new lambs gambol. Fields of dancing daffodils, pale yellow primroses in the hedgerows, and stunning bluebell woods. The fields run down to the cliffs which then plunge deeply to the sea. 

These images are from 2009, already two long years ago. Last year you will recall I was on that fabulous safari in Africa in May!  

Nowhere on earth is more beautiful to me than Devon.


The patchwork would almost be impossible to replicate with fabric......colors and shapes so amazing, the flora delicate and so fresh.  Quilters out there, could you stitch this with your wonderful talents?  Perhaps applique the 200 year-old English oaks, the lacy wildflowers along the lanes.  See the deep blue between the land and sky?  The ocean separating my two homes...............my birthplace and my adopted land.


This view is so loved.  It's where I now stay when visiting my home town - I walk from the apartment we rent down through the gardens to the beach below.  No longer having the family home is sad, however we didn't have a sea view there so this lovely place is now special also. In Spring it's too cold for bathing but the walks along the shore and up into the cliffs are wonderful.  I try to do it early morning alone, and then in mid-afternoon with DH.  We find a bench to sit and look out across Tor Bay and the English Channel to France, now home to part of my family. Too distant to be visible, except in one's imagination, but it is there, the Brittany and Normandy coastline.

Why am I showing you my home today?  Not because I'm sad but because I'll be heading across the pond for a visit in May.....and I'm already so excited.

Have you visited England's West Country, the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset?  If so, please share your stories.  If you ever plan to go you will be amazed at just how beautiful the area is.  



14 comments:

  1. Mary, I've missed reading your stories and viewing the lovely imagery that you project with your photography. As always, your writings (and decor) are so inspiring! Hoping you and Bob are doing well. Stop by sometime if you're ever in our neck of the woods!

    Dorothy~

    ReplyDelete
  2. What lovely photos...England is so beautiful. We have been there twice and toured the whole countryside in a rented car...you're right...words can't quite describe the natural beauty. My mom was born in England so it is a special place for our family too. I am so glad that you will be going in May...hope you will post losts of photos. Thanks for sharing these beautiful sights and memories with us!
    Cheryl at My Sister's Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love your photos. They are so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You paint such a beautiful picture with words of Spring. Dancing Daffodils would be my favorite. Oh a trip home in May, how wonderful. Yes, I would be getting excited too.

    I am getting excited for a trip, leaving April 17th. I can't wait. I think I will start packing soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was there in the summer of 2004 and all I can say is I REALLY WANT TO COME BACK!!!!! It was such a nice trip, strolling through the countryside in Devon and along the beaches in Cornwall......I dind't have a blog back then, but if you'll come to visit me and see under the tag TRAVELS you will find a lot about it.
    http://mylittleplace.blog.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mary these images are gorgeous!

    We've had 60's the past few days, but snow is possible over the weekend. Of course, March snows don't last long. I do not like warmer weather, (80's)!

    J dug out the knockout roses beside the patio. They were hugely overgrown. Planting ferns will be our first outdoor project when weather allows and before 80's.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Mary, your photos of Devon are beautiful. I love the art of the girl as well. I know you must be thrilled to visit your England again. I am happy for you. I have never traveled to Europe but I really want to go to England and Ireland. This year we are heading to Maine for a month in our RV in the last part of May and June. A trip there will be lovely. We have visited Maine before and loved that part of our country.

    I commented on your previous post Mary. Just in case you don't check.
    Have a wonderful day. Not too hot I hope. We are cloudy and chilly today. My cousin and her hubs are here in the cabin for a couple of weeks. (Marilyn) I so wanted sun and warm weather or them. MI has had a snow filled and cold winter.

    I better get busy this AM, before it is PM. smile.
    Hugs and love, Jeanne

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Mary, your post made my heart sing. I love traveling through the UK ... the only areas I haven't visited - Norfolk, Sussex, Kent and Suffolk.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mary thank you for visiting at my blog! I will begin to read your old posts, i think your blog and photos are just wonderful!!

    This world is such a small place, who knows that we will meet each other on our journey! I truly can not wait to see Beatrix's home, it has been my dream for so long, that it feel like a fairy tale this journey.

    joy,
    Delila

    ReplyDelete
  10. I well I was looking I mean commenting on Ninas blog. My heart really goes out to her with her Dad now failing. So sad. Your blogs beautiful. I see the yellow in the feilds as I saw in Aberdeenshire where I lived 4 yrs with my British husband who had a home there. Such beauty. Endless beauty in the Uk. I always have said Scotland (and England) was the land of loveliness! I miss it there and his family beckons us back, but Im not sure right now. Its nice to see a lovely Blog as yours! I see re in NC by your profile. My familys in VA..but I am in TX and miss the beautiful countryside!
    Janet from Singingwoods

    ReplyDelete
  11. hello Mary,

    unfortunately i am not sure do we have a time to say hello, since our train will leave 11 am.

    my e-mail address is sepiaartstudio@yahoo.com do write and we can see if we have a time.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mary, I live in Somerset and at the moment it is VERY COLD. But every day there is more evidence in the garden that spring is on its way. By the time you are holidaying here in May it should be lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mary how wonderful to be able to head back across the pond! The day will be here before you know it, and I'm sure the scenery will be just as gorgeous as the photos you have shown.
    Take Care,
    Ulrike

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow you have made me weep....just back in America after 6 beautiful years in England. Missing it so much. The green....the sheep....the fields. I have always said England looks like beautiful poetry reads. Your photos tell that story so well. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

I would enjoy reading your comment - thanks so much for stopping by.