i stole the first bunch of lilacs this year. i'm not gonna lie: i do steal lilacs from hedges in spring. not from front yards of other people's houses, but from hedges along the fences of building sites, wild shrubberies or green grassy strips that belong to the sidewalk and are therefore common rather than private properties. no harm done, i'm sure, and i love the scent of them... these four or five twigs sit in a bottle on the corner shelf in the living room now and smell divine.
we've had a lot of bright, sunny and almost summery warm days throughout april. the occasional rain made everything grow and shoot up and become lush and fresh and green. i love the green of spring. there are so many shades of it, all bright and transluscent. during summer the greens tend to get dark and muted and dusty like old velvet - but spring green is all crunchy like salad with a nice and slightly spicy vinaigrette...
when winter has its slow fade-out i'm always waiting and longing desperately for spring only to find myself suddenly in the middle of it, sometimes even amost at the end of it. the temperatures are running mad though: one afternoon you get over 20°C, maybe even 22 and the next day you're lucky to get 15°C. it's that time when you really don't know what clothes to put on yourself and the kids. on cold mornings you leave the house in full winter gear, coats, hats and scarves on (sometimes even gloves if you're a five-and-a-half-year-old who likes to dash about on his scooter playing high-speed-train) and then at lunchtime when you go out again to pick your son up from kindergarten you have to change completely because it's just to hot for jeans and sweater and coat. and then it is windier than you thought and you catch a cold again which you were so glad to be finally rid of...
(i wrote a rather long spring-post last year - where i went a little nuts with the photos if you'd like to take a(nother) look... and it's actually from a yarn-and-four-days ago. spring seems to have been a little earlier and quicker this year because the fruit trees are in full leaf already and the tulips are almost over again. funny how it's never quite the same and yet it still is in a way...)
there they are, my two sweet ones, shoveling soil into a flower-box to plant strawberries. they were very persevering and kept at it for quite a while. (we have to barricade the stairs to the upper garden to keep R from wandering off all by herself and into the neighbour's garden where there is a steep wall into their courtyard without a fence.)
we were able to eat outside in the middle of april! (my mum makes the most delicious salads.)
we haven't mowed the lawn yet and T has picked me lots of little bouquets of dandelions and daisies and pretty much anything that blooms...
(i was a little late with taking pictures of this one - it's a little wilted already.)
our local supermarket has the most wonderful, organically grown williams pears at the moment. they are delicious and juicy and have a lovely fruity-flowery scent. (T loves them while i have not yet figured out how to get R to eat raw fruit and vegetables.)
i finished the kiwi yarn socks, but haven't taken proper photos yet. what's left of the yarn should be enough for a pair of little socklets for me - and if it's not i can always go for a contrasting colour heel and toe. T loves his fox-sox so much, sweetly declaring he never wants to take them off when he first put them on, that i felt like i needed to make another pair for him right away. i let him choose the yarn again and of course he picked one that had lots of red and sparkle.
"you know, mama, just because it's actually christmas yarn doesn't mean i can't wear them all the time." he has the true spirit of a hand-knit-socker...
my other (second) sock in progress had to wait a little, poor thing just barely cast on, because i got sidetracked by the second part of the fairyland-series which is beyond awesome. it could be about the reproductive cycle of garden snails as long as it's written in this wonderful language! using lots of rather oldfashioned words, all swirly and full of ruffly petticoats and yet at the same time still very clear and to the point of things. full of imaginative metaphors, magic, and everything being alive. everything. even a dress.
if you want to get a whiff of the green wind you can read a short prequel of the series for free on tor.com called The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland - For a Little While - it's really worth it.
i hope your world is wonderful - wherever you are in it - or wherever it is.