Friday 1 May 2009

Candles



"Quick, quick" said the bird,
"the white candles are lit
on the great chestnut tree"



The above is a Haiku from "Through the letter box", by George Bruce, illustrated by Elizabeth Blackadder.




I love Elizabeth Blackadder's paintings and illustrations. Especially her flowers





"


and her cats.






Tree flowers do not last very long: they bloom, do their job of getting fertilized and then go. And throughout the summer their fruits ripen slowly, until we are sweeping up little winged seeds from the Sycamore, and boys are bashing the Horse Chestnut trees for the conkers!

Like English summer days, and life generally, we must make the most of it while it, whatever 'it' is, lasts!

9 comments:

Connie said...

I love your 'candles' photo! The flowers always fade too quickly for me as well, but you are right, they have served a major purpose.

Have a great weekend.

sojourner said...

i like the picture of the four flowers - flowers remind me of changing seasons - sometimes difficult to move from one to the other - but the movement is necessary!

Diane said...

Hi Gilly, I took a picture of a spectacular chestnut tree when I went on our walk around the lakes - I think the all the blossoms are looking really spectacular this year - I am hoping for a bumper crop of Blacberries and Sloes this year.

theMuddledMarketPlace said...

horse chestnuts- fabulous roots these have.
little people can sit around the base of the trunks
...and make rooms out of the spaces

kept me occupied for hours when young!

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

Love those paintings by Elizabeth Blackadder.
Each season has it's own beauty.

Gilly said...

Connie - yes, the horse chestnuts just seem to come out and we get high winds and rain!

Sojourner - yes, we have to move on, but its good to be able to look forward to another year of Spring flowers.

Diane - do you make sloe gin? And blackberry jam? I used to make a lot of jam, and went blackberrying to a couple of good spots. But its beyond my abilities now. But I do love blackberry jam - maybe I could find a few and make some!

MMM - it was beech trees where we were, on the Chilterns. Samwe games though!

theMuddledMarketPlace said...

oh yes, where's the photo at the top of your blog from?

cottonreel said...

Hello Gilly , It,s cottonreel here . I,m replying to your queries,re, patchwork .This particular quilt was a free pattern on the internet by a very well known quilter named Judy Martin .It is made up of several different size pieces. I don,t know if you are a sewing lady but it is a very relaxing hobby.Do you have a group in your area.let me know if I can help you. I would have to know if you would be a beginner

Glennis said...

Gilly, that's a wonderful post. I love the cat picture. I remember collecting horse chestnuts in the US midwest, as a kid.

thanks for visiting my blog. If you ever come to LA I'll take you on a tour!