Shhhhh! It’s a Secret

Crouching in the garden the other week (as you do) I glanced over to see a tiny blade of what looked like grass poking up. Then I noticed another and another and before I knew it I was at the perfect angle to see the lovely emerging Crocus carpet that had snuck up on me overnight. Shhhh! It’s our little secret.

On Sunday we woke early and since we really didn’t have anything interesting for breakfast (I’m pretty bad at grocery shopping, as a rule). We enticed the kids to get dressed and bundled up with the promise of pancakes at our local cafe. It was 7am and misty. The boys turned on their scooter lights for safety. I wore my fingerless gloves ‘underneath’ my sheepskin ones. It was the kind of cold that only comes on misty days, the kind that chills you to the bone. We walked (and scooted) quickly because we all wanted those pancakes. We were in such a hurry I almost missed the dewy clump of Snowdrops clinging to the kerb as we passed. Almost, but not quite.

And today, as we left in a flurry for the school drop-off, there it was, a gorgeous new Rose leaf all glossy and red-edged. Just sitting there, like it had been there all along. Except, I know it hasn’t.

I always say that Spring is my favourite time of year, but I’m beginning to like January more. I feel like I’m in my own secret society and I’m the first to know when things are on the move. When I moved to Portland people said, “yes but you know it rains a lot”. “Right,” I said. But what I actually meant was “I don’t care.” I don’t care about the weather because my garden is beautiful all the time. I just need to be more horizontal to see it at this time of year.

I’m more excited right now than I am at any point during the year. It’s almost time to start sowing seed in the greenhouse. Crocuses and Snowdrops have just started flowering, Daffodils are an inch high. Pale pink Camellias are popping here and there and there are furry little buds on the Magnolia bushes. It’s all happening. You just have to crouch down and look.