From early in February the spring flowers in the garden were in bloom. We had snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils and miniature irises making colourful displays. Even the hyacinths, usually not out until late April and May, were beginning to show their colours.
The twisted hazel, a Mother's Day present many years ago, had a splendid display of catkins and looked good against the pale blue of the sky. It is now as tall as it will grow, about eight feet, and just the right size for our garden. Planted next to it is an ordinary hazel tree but it is far too big for the garden so we coppiced it last year and in seven years time, we will be able to harvest the slender stems that are growing from the base and they will become garden canes. Then the seven year cycle will start again. I have been reading about the process of coppicing and it lengthens the life span of the tree to several hundred years. I don't think I shall see many harvests.
Towards the end of February, on a dry and sunny weekend, B and I visited a stately home called Attingham Park, and run by the National Trust. It has extensive grounds and woodland and a herd of about three hundred Fallow Deer. We strolled through the woodland, admiring the snowdrops which have naturalised there, and though the car parks were very busy when we arrived, there is so much space that it didn't feel at all crowded.
Snowdrops thrive in the damp and shady woodland conditions.
Later, we went to see the deer being fed. In the Winter and early Spring the deer are given supplementary food, sugar beet we think, which is taken out to the deer park everyday at the same time. As soon as the truck arrived, the deer which had been in the far distance started to move to the feeding area, the males first, then the females and lastly the youngsters. Within a few minutes there were more deer than you could count and they readily started on the food. They were no more than about six yards from the path, but they seemed not to be bothered by the spectators. We stood quiet and still, so as not to disturb them. It was a good opportunity to get photographs of them while they were standing still and eating. The problem was they had their faces near the ground and so it was not easy to get a good shot of their faces and horns. but patience paid off and I managed to get just one photo were the deer seemed to be looking at the camera.
Nice memories of earlier in the year - we are hopeful that Spring will return again soon.
