Springtime is.....well, restless!

...and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils. (Wordsworth)

(picture taken at Ightam Mote in Kent, U.K.)

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'When the daffodils dance in the sun and the rain
then we know that the springtime is coming again...'

Hands up if you remember singing the above song at school each year round springtime. It used to make me feel very happy every time I heard it.
I have been thinking a lot about the little country town in Central Victoria where I lived for four years. (Which always had lots of daffodils, and now has a daffodil festival each year) I had my secondary education here, but allowed my self to be seduced at age 14 - by the lure of earning my own money. I was foolish enough to come home from school one day and announce that two of my friends had left school to go to work. Unfortunately, I mentioned that they were going to work for a government department and be earning 6 pounds 15/- per week, a huge sum for a fourteen year old in 1956. (My computer doesn't do pound signs unfortunately) In today's money, $13 per week. Nan worked on me for several weeks, telling me how wonderful it would be to have my own money and I have to say, the salary was more than some men earned. So, I allowed myself to be seduced away from school and into the work force. Within six weeks I wanted to go back, but was told that I couldn't. So, I was a slave to the $ until 11 years ago, when I retired, and then went back to work on a temporary basis in the private school system. I gave this away nearly four years ago, having decided that I was only working to spend! Which leads me to say how very lucky I was to survive my four years in the small country town! I left before the water nymphs caught me!

The township is built on a large curve of the Campaspe River, which meant that the river embraced it on three sides. It is full of historic blue stone cottages and was on the main road to the gold mines in Bendigo and surrounding areas. The old coaching station for horse changes was on our corner. That river and I had many a tussle. My birth sign is Aquarius, and the water was quite determined to get me. Everytime I went near the river I fell in. Admittedly in shallow parts, but I was always straggling home in wet clothes of a weekend. The water nymphs must have wanted me for their own. But, it wasn't only the river. I fell backwards into a sewerage outlet on a family picnic, and back then the waste was not purified at this particular point. I had to be stripped and bundled into a blanket and driven some miles home. The stench came with us of course. I slipped face first into a huge mud puddle in front of a whole football team of young lads, and their supporters, and was laughed out of the ground. I can still hear that dreadful laughter. Not a word of sympathy did I get from anybody! But, my best performance was at a Sunday School picnic, when I was nearly twelve. My Nan decided that it was a bit cold for swimming so off I went and was most annoyed when it became quite hot and I was unable to swim. But, the water nymphs struck again. I tripped near the edge of the swimming pool and went head first in. The mums who had come to help with the picnic dragged me out, despite the fact that I could swim, and tried to dry me off. In the end they surrounded me with towels and one of them passed over the swimming costume she had in her bag. Like Venus rising from the sea, I emerged from the crowd of mums clad in a pale blue costume with white frills. I had developed just enough shape to fit comfortablywithin it, and was able to spend the afternoon swimming. Lucky me! But, back to the spring garden.

Here is a photo of an eremophila (common name, emu bush) that grows and flowers profusely on our nature strip (or verge) These plants are very hardy in dry weather and create a wonderful display all year round. This one is very pale, but they come in all sorts of colours. White, pink, mauve, yellow, orange right through to a deep cerise colour. The red flowers beyond it are those of a grevillea. Himself has spent quite a bit of time around the garden today, I think creating an easy to walk along pathway for me, which will entail placing steps with low risers. Hallelujah!

This is a mixture of spring flowers taken across the front of our house to the house next door, and shows some of the wattles in bloom. eriostemon, grevillea and eremophila are in bloom in the foreground.

The church choir I sing with has been performing tonight. We did quite well I think, and had lots of enthusiastic clapping from our captive audience. At practise on Thursday night it was absolutely horrendous, and I was quite determined not to attend this evening, but as I was hosting a table of guests, I duly made my way to the venue. So pleased that I did as it has been a very pleasant evening.

Sunday: today is a typical August day here in Melbourne. Bright sunshine, blustery north wind, which is having an awful drying effect on the garden but, we hope for some rain before the really hot weather sets in.

'Rough winds do shake the darling buds of September and summer's lease is something we'd rather not remember.' (Apologies to Shakespeare!)

But, I do love this early Spring weather. I could wander for miles but, perphaps fortunately, have confined myself to the home and am spending time in the garden - and more time as soon as I post this.