Thursday 31 January 2013

Snowdrops

Even though it is wet, gloomy and extremely boggy underfoot I went out to see what signs there are of spring roundabout the house.

A little while ago we'd already spotted the snowdrops beginning to show; then before I could take a photo a blanket of snow was dumped on their heads. Since then the weather has turned milder but stayed wet and gloomy --not the kind of light in which to take nice photographs.
As luck would have it I've been waiting in vain for sun. When the odd ray did appear mundania meant I wasn't here. So this morning, on the last day of January, flat light or not, I took some photos of the snowdrops well and truly out. 
I then spotted the earliest of our narcissi in bud and a couple of brave cowslips just beginning to push out a flower stem.



All we need now for February is some sun and we can sit outside on the southside of the house --in a woolly jumper-- to have our coffee. Hurrah!


18 comments:

MorningAJ said...

I love snowdrops. I must go check on the ones in our garden. The healthiest bunch are behind the raised beds - so I can't see them without making a special trip!

Niall & Antoinette said...

@AJ - they're a such a pretty dose of looking forwards to spring aren't they?

Hope your neck continues to get better.

Susan said...

Just photographed 3 crocuses flowering in our orchard!

Tim said...

"is some sun and we can sit outside...to have our coffee."

Oh... please...PLEASE!!

I'm growing webbing between my toes...

Quack...
QUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!

Perpetua said...

Gorgeous! It's been so appallingly wet and windy here since the snow went that I haven't felt like venturing out for any signs of spring, so yours are a welcome sight. :-)

John Going Gently said...

We have them here too!

Diane said...

I see our snowdrops are just coming into bud, we seem to be far behind you! Diane

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Susan - ahh....great minds ;-)

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Tim - so we're not the only ones keen for some sun then? ;-)
The grey is sooooooooooooooo boring!

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Perpetua - I'd put it off too as all squelching is depressing.
When it dries out a bit more I'll go and see how our lizard orchid rosettes are doing.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@John - oh nice! I'd have thought you'd be a bit later than us.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Diane - ours are sheltered, but I don't feel that they're especially early.

the fly in the web said...

How we looked forward to a bit of February sun and a sheltered corner on the balcony!

Jean said...

I try not to get too overexcited at this time of year. Being desperate for spring and looking for signs of it everywhere is fine but then winter tends to come back and bite hard !!

Mind you, today the sun is shining and we have some daffodils just poking their heads up in the lawn, so I'm full of the joys of spring today !!

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Fly- and guess what ... it is bucketing down today! Send us some of your sun SVP!

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Jean - let's hope we've seen the back of it.
Don't mind snow when it's teamed with cold crisp skies, then all is bright and sunny. It's this wet miserable stuff that gets me down.

Vagabonde said...

Your snowdrops are so pretty – we don’t get any here. I did buy a little pot of daffodils on Saturday and there are 2 blooms already – it smells like spring!

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Vagabonde - the snowdrops are 'feral'. They've just seeded themselves; our daffodils are budding but it will be a while yet before they open.
Meanwhile la grisaille with rain naturellement continues