Spring is coming..

The beginning of MARCH already.. I can hardly believe it!  Where I live we haven't had any real snow so far this winter..  it has come down once or twice, but hasn't laid on the ground at all. Wonder if we shall get away without any this year?  There is a definite sense of Spring in the air.. green shoots are appearing everywhere and..

trees are in bud..

 lovely yellow catkins are blowing in the wind :)

 Sunny mornings are my favourite time for wandering in the woods behind my house..  

Well used paths are soooo muddy at the moment

It's nicer walking between the trees on a carpet of leaves..
with bird song and scampering squirrels it really helps shake off winter blues

Last week I went searching for branches that have been brought down by the winds.. I want to make rustic wooden buttons.

From the other side of the tree I thought this was a fallen branch..
I don't think I've ever seen one grow outwards like this so close to the ground,
it must of been 15 feet long

There were a lot of windfalls.. I came home with blackthorn, hawthorn and beech branches.  And while driving down the lane a couple of weeks ago, the day after a VERY windy night, I found an old oak felled by the wind.. which was a shame.  When the men were cutting it up and taking it away I claimed a couple of lovely branches.. I have been wanting to make a branch flute for absolutely ages and I think these will be just right (and the thinner bits can make buttons :)   There's is every chance that I will fail abysmally at flute making :)  but I fancy having a go.. imagine how lovely it would be if it worked!  So now those branches are wrapped in newspaper and tucked away to 'season' for 6 months or so.