Armchair Travel & Magic in the Moonlight

Aren't spring blossoms the cheeriest?

 The surest sign of spring.

Not much else is happening outdoors yet, but the trees are beginning to leaf and the grass is greening up. I'm so glad that we are in the hopeful time of year in our part of the world.

This is the lovely second year bloom of my cast off paperwhites. I tossed the spent plant into the nearest flower bed right after Christmas two years ago and it surprisingly came up again in the spring. My kind of plant! 

To express my appreciation I have set up a little fairy garden set beside the solitary bloom.

The rest of the yard still lies in suspended animation.

Vinca

Something that has me enthused about gardening this season was stumbling across a mention of the film Magic in the Moolight set on the French Riviera in the 1920's. Need I say more? I had not seen it before but have now watched it a dozen times, often with the sound off. But the music is great too.

It's a perfect film for an armchair traveler. Released in 2014, PG-13, about three stars. The sets are luscious, the gardens divine. The lavish costumes are all vintage and gorgeous. The architecture and landscape are a main feature of the film. Lots of container plantings and dreamy verandas. We are going to do more garden pots this year because of the gorgeous scenes in this movie.

Oddly, I found the story more amusing when I read the subtitles with the sound off.

Magic in the Moonlight

Closer to home... rose buds are coming on.

And the little boxwood made it through another winter!

And lilac. (Unfortunately just a few this year.)

I was asked about the swarm of bees poem in my last post (a sketch from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady), so here it is in full.

"A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay,

A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon,

A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly."

... a proverbial bee-keepers' saying, mid 17th century; meaning that the later in the year it is, the less time there will be for bees to collect pollen from flowers in blossom.

Finally, it's national poetry month. Did you know? So if you're needing a little mental stimulation you might google "April is the cruelest month" and you will get a list of material to choose from starting with the text of The Wasteland by T. S. Eliot. Move on to questions to ponder like "Why is April the cruelest month?" and other discussions. Darkly thoughtful, and not as cheery as bee proverbs.

"The best way to understand the poem’s endless allusions — obscure in some places, impenetrable in others — is to have both the text and a glossary to hand. However, it’s also possible to appreciate the poem on a more basic level: its lyrical flow, jarring juxtapositions, and surprising images." From the National Review

Click here for the rest of the interesting current article.

Thanks so much for coming by!

 Your visit cheers my day like cherry blossoms.

Jacqueline