"Oh!" cried Mrs Wilkins....
The sun poured in on her. The sea lay asleep in it, hardly stirring.
Across the bay the lovely mountains, exquisitely different in colour, were asleep too in the light; and underneath her window, at the bottom of the flower-starred grass slope from which the wall off the castle rose up, was a great cypress, cutting through the delicate blues and violets and rose-colours of the mountains and the sea like a great black sword...
She stared. Such beauty; and she there to see it....
Such beauty; and she alive to feel it...Her face was bathed in light. Lovely scents came up to the window and caressed her. A tiny breeze gently lifted her hair.
How beautiful, how beautiful. Not to have died before this....
...to have been allowed to see, breathe, feel this....She stared, her lips parted.
Happy? Poor, ordinary, everyday word. But what could one say, how could one describe it?
It was as though she could hardly stay inside herself...
...it was as though she were too small to hold so much of joy...
..it was as though she were washed through with light."
These words, paraphrased from Elizabeth von Arnim's wonderful book absolutely sum up my April so far...
Some of these photos were taken during a recent weekend away in Devon, some at the farm and some around our home...
...and garden (the hellebores are one of my absolute favourite flowers...so shy with their bowed heads...so exquisite and muted)
The snowdrops are long gone now, but they sparkled in the churchyard for a while..
Camellias and daffodils are fully in bloom...
And these grape hyacinths were a gift to my Mum at our Easter family lunch on Monday...
Life is so busy at the moment...everything colliding as always....but I'm trying to take the time to really look around and enjoy the beauty around me. It's everywhere.
Mrs Wilkins and I would have been kindred spirits, I think! Dear Lottie.
I hope you are having an enchanted April too....i'll be back soon I promise x
I read this and gave a happy sigh. Such beauty and peace. Thank you x
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pictures! April so far has been enchanting, but I can seldom see it as enchanting than on these images.
ReplyDeleteAnd on a side note I utterly distrust April as a month. Like my mother loves to remind me: when I was born it was so hot my father went in a tshirt to buy himself a burger, but when I left the hospital there was a snowstorm.
So beautiful, dear Rachel. April has long been a favorite month of mine. Your photos tell the whole story--enchanted April! We are finally getting that enchantment here! Yay! ♥
ReplyDeleteI found your blog via Susan Branch. Lovely place you have here! Thanks for sharing the beauty you've been finding.
ReplyDeleteWhat cute baby animals! Spring!!!
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteA beautiful post.
April is a fun month. New life ... Spring ... Love in the air.
Carla
Such a perfect quote. All your photographs are quite beautiful, but I do particularly like the very first one in the grave yard ~ the juxtaposition of death with the daffodils and the rebirth of Spring is clever.
ReplyDelete~~~Deb in Wales
Ahhh, Spring! You capture photographs like an avid fisherman snags a great fish....with precision, love and grace! Beautiful imagery Rachel..... just beautiful!! Missing catching up; I'm a bit overwhelmed. Need to get everything into perspective. xx
ReplyDeleteRachel, I'm late getting to this, but absolutely enchanting! Yes, April is the busiest, yet the most delightful of months! Similar things going on here: evergreens pruned and presentable for the season, perennials (blue salvia almost blooming; clematis with swollen buds; roses, too), and exciting first tiny leaves of seeds sown last week, bright pink petunias planted and several other things as well. But I just loved your quoting Mrs. Wilkins along with your photos. A wonderfully great escape to your beautiful countryside, and the sea. I have a friend in Plymouth, Devon who sends me great news and views from the countryside there, and the sea, and the church, St. Mary's, Laira. Thank you again, dear Rachel for such a lovely blog! It brightens the day. Jane xo
ReplyDeleteHello Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are well and enjoying a lovely Spring!
I love English gardens! xx