Standing and Staring

Leisure
by William Henry Davies

"What is this life if ,full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see,when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet,how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."

Sometimes it is good to just stand and stare. I spent about 30 minutes just watching the birds by the pebble pool, they may not have been as exotic as yesterdays kingfisher, but they provided plenty of entertainment!

Life in the back garden.

Longtailed Tit , Great Tit and Sparrow.



The pebble pool attracts a lot of birds to the garden. Big wood pigeons down to the tiny wren. This year we have seen more sparrows then we have for a long time. I have read that their numbers are declining, prehaps they are making a come back. Today I was luck to see some longtailed tits .

A Quick Look at the Garden

The warm sunny weather has brought all the flowers out in the garden. last spring we covered the flowerbeds with gravel to help keep the weeds down and also to help keep the moisture in the soil. With our dryer weather we are constantly being threatened with hose pipe bans . it seems to have worked. Although we had a wet winter this year and rainfall was above average , spring has been dry and warmer than normal and already the garden is very dry. here Missy is taking time to smell the flowers

More flowers from the garden, Love lies a bleeding with its pretty little heart shaped flowers is a favourite of mine.

Three different Clematis flowering in the garden

Last Saturday In January

Already January is nearly over, and this last week we have had some winter weather with the temperatures dropping and some frost and ice about. Today we had blue skies and winter sunshine. This morning we walked at Busketts after delivering a Birthday Present to Jean (and tonight we are celebrating at our favourite Italian restaurant) We met up with a few doggy friends , including little Magic the Labrador puppy. This afternoon we walked at Ocknell Lots of big puddles and plenty of water in the pond.
At the end of January the nights are already getting lighter and soon Spring promises to be here.
The snowdrops in the garden are in full bloom now.