Grey Skies, Beads To Make And Seeds To Sow

Warmer Days


   Grey misty skies greet us this morning, skies that seem to drop that blanket of dampness over the village and the smell of spring reaches your nose as you leave your cottage, the sound of dove and pigeon echo through the air while my thoughts turn to those childhood days when that boy would set off to pick peas on his trusty bike on mornings such as this, plastic bucket hanging on his handlebars and a sandwich wrapped in silver foil tucked in his coat pocket. Four miles down country lane he would travel until the pea fields were laid out in front of him, smiling faces of the lady pickers would welcome his arrival and green pea nets handed to him, happy times they were and days never to return in this new world of ours.
   With the temperatures warming this week it has been the kitchen garden that as taken my attention, raised beds have been dug and worked ready for seed sowing and paths and hedgerows have been put in place, yet more conifers have been topped so as to let in even more light and the odd bonfire as sent small columns of white smoke high into the wide fen sky.
   Those two hours every afternoon seem to settle my mind and set it free of worry, I'm back out in the world I love and enjoy with just sounds of the countryside in my ears and soil on my hands, I can lean on my hoe and look across mile after mile of rich fenland, no better way to end a working day.
   Today this bead maker is playing with silver glass, blues and pinks will shine under clear coats and more natural shades will sit next to each other in the hot kiln waiting for tomorrow and their chance to show off. While dove and finch alike build for their new families this bead hermit will sit at his flame watching magic and being lead by the glass and every few minutes his mind will wonder to past days and people, spring mornings when all that mattered was the Ashwell countryside and family, when the river bank was his resting place while watching the water for frog and fish and when he wondered how his life would turn out, well he has had a lucky life and one he enjoys, not rich in worth like most but rich in nature and the important things in life.