The merry month of May already! And the weather here has been absolutely beautiful - perfect Spring weather. Today we are halfway through a long Bank Holiday weekend.. I hope you all have a lovely time :)
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| Sunshine and birdsong on May Day morning :) blissful! |
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| Life is returning.. beautiful bright green leaves have started to break out over the last few days |
On my morning walk on 1st May the sun was shining beautifully and the birds in fine voice.. I noticed that there was suddenly a profusion of white flowers everywhere. I took a few pics.. these are my favourites, but there are lots more on the trees and in among the brambles, even early nettle flowers. The first swallows are back too! It's good to see them dipping and weaving as they hunt.
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| Beyond the beech tree the wild garlic is flowering and smells amazing! |
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| There are clouds of cow parsley everywhere waving in the tiniest breeze |
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| And drifts of these little beauties.. I don't know what they are called though? update: just spotted them on another blog.. they are Stitchwort - love that name :) |
Gemstone: Emerald
Flower: Lilly of the Valley
In Anglo-Saxon times this month was called Tri-Milchi in recognition of the fact that the lush new grass meant the cows could be milked three times a day.
May
by Christina Rossetti
I cannot tell you how it was,
But this I know: it came to pass
Upon a bright and sunny day
When May was young; ah, pleasant May!
As yet the poppies were not born
Between the blades of tender corn;
The last egg had not hatched as yet,
Nor any bird foregone its mate.
May Day and the Festival of Beltain - 30th Apr & 1st May
Beltain is an ancient fire festival celebrating fertility, life returning to the land and the beginning of summer. It was the time when herds were returned to summer pastures (often driven between the Beltain fires to be blessed with health and fertility for the following year).
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| Maypole Dancing I found this gorgeous photo on a Google image search.. it was on tumblr but looks like it belongs to oldpixels.com |
I joined in a Maypole Dance once when I worked in museums- we were in full medieval costume and got in a frightful tangle :) It was fun though!
