Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Signs of spring

While many fellow bloggers are celebrating their first snow of the season, I am rejoicing in the first signs of spring.

It is a much better day today in so many ways, the sun is shining and I have finished off a whole heap of half finished hearts and bags and boxed them up.

The reason that I am celebrating though is that my hares are back.

My computer is on a table facing out over a small smooth green hill, it is the terminal morain of Loch Lomond, a marker of where the loch came up to in the ice age. Now it is the morning habitat of the brown hares.

Every morning from now until April I shall be able to check my morning e-mails while hare watching. Come March they will spend hours boxing - this morning they were simply chasing each other around.

Hares and buzzards, are now the essence of the spring to me.

I wasn't quick enough to get a photo of the hares this morning so it is a basket of half finished lavender hearts with their labels ready to be stitched on.

5 comments:

Nonnie said...

How fantastic to be able to watch the hares liket that. Much as I was excited to see a bit of snow yesterday as it is so rare for us, I am definitely also looking out for signs of Spring. I think it's my favourite season although I do like Autumn too. I hope you'll be able to get some pictures of the hares to share with all us City dwellers.

Anonymous said...

Lucky you, hares are such magnifcient beasties.

Primrose Hill said...

Hi Jane,
I love watching hares chase around the fields, it's magical. Glad you're getting on with the sewing, I know the feeling! I don't see Spikey Pebble on the exhibitor list for the CL fair, are they not doing it this year?
L x

Heather said...

Jane

This is almost worthy of a post of my own - but this morning, very cold after a bit of snow yesterday I noticed buds on the everlasting fuschia (not sure its real name) - and the roses seem to be sprouting too - I was shocked because it doesn't feel very spring like and is so miserable (we suffer alot of fog too here)

But its happening - if everyone looks closely, there is movement!

We have hares too - I think they are lovely - not in a cute way - Idon't think they are cutsey like bunnies - they are quite majestic actually.

Jane said...

Fiona, I love spring best too I think. I saw the first flowerinmg snowdrops today in Drymen square.

Hi Lisa - I wonder whether Sara got put off by the out-of-the-way site that she was given last year. It is a pity as I think that their products are great and completely different to anyone else's. I think that we will be next to each other - which will be nice as I think that together we manage to cater for all posible tastes bar beige.

Carolyn - I think that you are SO right about the hare being completely different from the rabbit. I think that the hare is so much more lean and thrusting - so much more like spring - a forcing out of the winter than the fluffy bunny basking in the sunshine.
The hare was the symbol of the saxon goddess Eostre, she was goddess of the moon, dawn and women, one legend has life on earth hatching from an egg laid by the hare in the moon. The idea of the "hare in the moon" as opposed to the "man in the moon" is in many cultures.
It is only in comparitively recent times that these legends have been fluffified into easter bunnies and easter eggs.
I love the starkness of my hares.