February

 

As I noted in my last post, life here trundles on much the same, week after week, with the exception being that we are now on our half term break - yay! This has meant we can put all notions of home learning aside, for this week, at least, and I can't stress just what a relief that is. I have felt under much more pressure this time round, so I can only imagine it feels far worse for Lily, especially being away from her friends and the reassuring routine of the school day. 

Thankfully, despite the bitterly cold temperatures we've been experiencing, another difference is the noticeable brightening and lengthening of the days, a clear indication spring is on the way. That, and we discovered some early bright green shoots of wild garlic pushing through the frozen earth last week. It's hard to think that in just a few weeks time we will be walking there in the warm sunshine to gather some for making pesto.

As it's been so cold, I've made sure to keep the bird feeder well topped up. Since the beginning of the year we have been fortunate to have many birds returning to the garden. For ages, it seemed, we didn't get any feathered visitors, which was really disappointing. I wasn't sure if it was down to our garden receiving little in the way of sunshine at this time of year, so I eventually stopped putting any food out at all. In a determined effort to encourage more of our feathered friends I once again began putting out a variety of nuts and seeds and have since been rewarded with a steady stream of blackbirds, blue tits, and robins. Although, I must admit they have been a bit of a distraction from our home learning, with both mother and daughter having the same tendency to gaze longingly out of a window, rather than getting on with the task in hand :) 

Even though I've still been working, we've taken every opportunity to get outdoors when the weather has allowed. These daily walks, although becoming a little repetitive, are necessary to my wellbeing. I know I've said this before but if you look closely there is always something new to see as the seasons change and nature does her thing. I hadn't, however, prepared myself for the sight of this stunning display of icicles down by the river. We were amazed. So much, in fact, Lily insisted we went back the following day for another look. 

J. X