It’s here and it’s beautiful. We were waiting so longingly for it to arrive and now it’s here it’s almost heart-breakingly beautiful.
Our woods have a stunning carpet of white and yellow anemones. Our plum trees are bedecked with clouds of blossom while our meadows are dotted with violets. Every day it seems there’s something new to dazzle.
The mornings are alive with birds song and the first of our intrepid African migrants have returned to the island. Woodpeckers drum all around.
We’ve enjoyed a few weeks of lovely warmish sunshine, low winds and little rain – allowing us to walk down the Kobbeå to the sea for the first time since the beginning of Winter (when the river is a surging torrent and the walk impassable even for 2 very adventurous 5 year olds). Our grass-cutter has even been taken out of it’s winter hibernation for the first time.
At Stavehøl you feel so immersed in the change of the seasons that I’m not feeling the same sense of Spring melancholy that used to come when I lived in the city. Then there was a feeling that Spring happens so quickly and it’s beauty is so ephemeral that if you’re busy or stuck in the city you can miss the whole lovely thing. In Brighton I had to make a special effort to see Spring flowers and enjoy a dawn chorus – here it’s always around me and unmissable. I love that.
And we’ve been able to share this Spring freshness with our first guests of the year – and it’s good to have people around after a lonely Winter.
We finished renovating the studio flat after some epic work days of painting, limewashing, sanding and varnishing the wooden floor etc… It’s now quite lovely and ready for the busy year ahead. Hope our guests will like it as much as Katrin who really wants to adopt it and live there.
While the list of jobs to get everything ready for the Summer (when our woods and meadows will have their full complement of yurt and bell tents) is loooong, I’ve still volunteered to help monitor birds for the 3rd Danish bird atlas. I’ve been given our local 5 km square to record all evidence of birds breeding this Spring – so, many early mornings to come. A bit of a challenge but hopefully fun and the perfect way to get to know our local patch.
I’m hoping to blog a bit more frequently as the wave of Spring white continues, so bye for now and see you soon!
Phil
Stavehøl, April 2016
