I can't believe it's March - where on earth have the days gone to? It's definitely time to play 'dodge frogs on the road' - in this area we always have loads of frogs and seem to have far more than at the same time last year. Even the spawning pools have bigger fuller blobs of spawn. That's not a complaint by any means - because I really love frogs!
I also really love Hedgehogs and they've featured prominently in my artwork this month. To my great delight I have been accepted to take part in a Hedgehog exhibition at Harestanes (Nisbit nr Jedburgh) in April. So I've opted to do a few originals in various colours, using different sizes of slate. There will also be prints available and cards.
Here are a few of the other slates I have been working on recently. Which one do you like best?
The evenings are beginning to stretch out offering more time to explore outside, birds are really singing now,and manically making their nests. We have been watching wrens building their tiny neat nests amidst the aged ivy creeping around our window. Blue Tits have been have been kicked out by the great Tits at their nesting spot so are now frantically starting all over again. Woodpeckers have chosen their usual spot while Oystercatchers are in full vocal swing, and are now a familiar sound daily as they sort out their nesting spots on the stones at the riverside.
So much is happening all at once and I haven't even mentioned all the new growth going on in plants, shrub and trees!
Delicate white Snowdrops are beginning to die back now, making way for the yellow brilliance of Daffodils and lovely deep mauves and purples of the Crocus. Trees are budding and you can really smell that Spring is here. It's a great time of year when everything seems to be coming to life after the winter sleep.
THINGS TO DO IN MARCH:
* Enjoy a walk and play I SPY SPRING * Listen out for croaking frogs * Lookout for frog spawn,or beads of toad spawn * Do a Sit spot, sit/stand somewhere quietly. You may spot some birds prepping their nest. Or just close your eyes and enjoy listening to nature. Enjoy March and look after your wild place, see you in April when I will have some very exciting news to share with you all...
Till then