Beautiful but cold. I have mingled emotions towards snow and cold weather, and I cannot make up my mind. The sunsets have a rare beauty, even if I cannot be outside to witness them for long.

Beautiful but cold. I have mingled emotions towards snow and cold weather, and I cannot make up my mind. The sunsets have a rare beauty, even if I cannot be outside to witness them for long.


A garden must have apple trees to have the right atmosphere of Spring, I think. White with a tint of pink, apple flowers makes you completely surrounded by beauty, not only on the ground but also in the air.


Spring is here and with it gardening. My favourite time. Toby enjoys it in his manner, eating a bone. I enjoy my time with the first sowing in the cold frame. Sallad and celery are the first crops. Next in time are carrots, parsnip, and dill. But that will be in the field.

If you follow a minor dirt road not far from here, which leaves the main road to reach some farms further in, you will pass a house that is left to sleep so deep that soon I think no one will be able to kiss it awake. Lilacs grow over the wide stonehege, which also make up part of a root cellar. Old beeches strech their heavy branches over the narrow road. Beauty for all senses.

About 35 years ago there lived a joyful farmer there who managed this little farm meticulously, in a friendly manner. But old age at last got the better of him and he left this life for the eternal one. A cousin of his inherited the house, but she didn’t care for it, nor the farm, just the idea of owning a property. She has never visited it, just left it there. Nature has slowly made the garden into a small charming wilderness.

During my whole life I have watched how the seedlings that took root by the walls of the house, slowly have grown into trees, how the smaller barn with wooden roof at last collapsed and returned to the earth it was made from. Many times I have stopped there dreaming to restore it to that neat little fram it once was. But there is a fascination of the forgotten one with hidden memories. However, when I passed this time I could not resist entering through the one gate that is still hanging on its hinges.

I sat down in the grass among the old apple trees in the meadow of red and yellow primroses. Nothing disturbed the peace and quiet of the garden. I did not feel as an intruder, more of a guest taking part of a flowers feast.

I wonder if anyone will ever live in that house again, call it a home, sit where I sat admiring the flowers, but not as a guest but considering this place as part of their life. What a happy owner it would be.

The Month of Virgin Mary is ended, it always fills me with a bit of sadness. During one of our May processions in the garden, our cat Joseph, which has found a home here, thought it was so cosy that he decided to take a nap at Virgin Mary’s feet. Animals never stop surprising me with their initiatives.

“… with silver bells and cockle shells, and all pretty maidens in a row. ” Not a silver bell but a Snow Bell, as it is called in Sweden. I love the green little spots that marks every leaf.

The tulips are in their prime. Every day new buds burst into bloom, following the beauty of the daffodils, whose flowers now are dried and their seeds are maturing.




The bees and ants have woken up. It is fascinating to see their dedication and their industrious work as their gather food for their queen and larvae. They have a common project, in their nature completely unselfish.

Inconspicuous colour, but if you humble yourself and smell it, you will be surprised by its strong fragrance, a mixture of lilies and honey.

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A personal blog of a plant lover
Flores Island · Azores
From Where I Stand...