The weather here
in Wales may still be grey, windy and showery, with yet more heavy rain
forecast for overnight, but in my kitchen it’s spring, thanks to my youngest
sister. Outside the only sign that spring may be on the way is a scattering of pussy-willow
and hazel catkins, but on the kitchen table stands a blaze of tulips, vivid
against the walls and cupboards.
She and her
husband called in on Friday morning after DH had left to visit his mother, and
they didn’t come empty-handed. I have a lot of time for visitors who arrive
bearing not only tulips but extravagantly delicious carrot cake. We sat in the conservatory over coffee
and cake, putting the world to rights as we usually do, before they left,
taking home with them my brother-in-law’s pride and joy, which has been
overwintering in our garage. You can tell it’s
almost spring when the Little Green Dragon takes to the road again.
Now I’m heading
back to the kitchen and the tulips, to make a big pot of soup ready for
DH’s return from his weekend away. That's what I call a warm welcome...
Nothing prettier than a blue vase with tulips or a more suitable breath of Spring! Daffodils, too are a welcome site! Soup sounds perfect -- wish I'd made some for supper tonight!
ReplyDeleteThey were a lovely thought by my sister, Broad, and they certainly brighten up the kitchen. Our daffodils are barely showing above the ground as yet, but they will come. The soup was great and I now have the remains in the freezer. :-)
DeleteHello Perpetua,
ReplyDeleteAnd what a blaze of glory those Tulips are. Such harbingers of Spring and a real tonic for the soul. Oh, these simple pleasures are really the best that Life can bring.
Soup here in Budapest is always on the go all year round. Hearty vegetable and Gulyas for the winter and Gazpacho is the mainstay for summer. It is so versatile, healthy and nourishing. Yes, food for the soul too!
They are truly striking, Jane and Lance. They started off a deep burnt-orange which is gradually paling into apricot and in our cool kitchen will last for some time.
DeleteAs you know from previous posts, soup is a great favourite of ours. This was a thick and delicious vegetable and lentil affair with home-made bread. - just the thing for a chilly February evening,
Dear Perpetua, I think Broad gave you a title for your photograph--"blue vase with tulips." Sounds like a Monet! Like you, I so enjoy soup in the winter. So comforting. Peace.
ReplyDeleteIt does indeed sound like a Monet , Dee, or a Dutch still-life. So lovely to look at as I do my chores. DH said the soup was just what he needed after his journey home from a busy weekend.
DeleteWe ventured out to get some much-needed shopping today (neither of us is really 'over' the 'bug' yet, but needs must....), and I invested in a bunch of daffs (£1 for 20 in Morrisons). They're still tight buds as yet, but within a few hours they'll be bursting out, I'm sure. And as I staggered to the car on the way out, I discovered that in the 2 weeks since I last set foot outside a whole load of croci (?crocuses?) have burst ihto bloom, along with the first little narcissi (Tête-à-Tête, I think), to join the snowdrops and winter aconites (all 3 of them!) Even the rose bushes - as yet unpruned - are beginning to sprout. Perhaps Spring is on the way - although Derek was forecasting snow for Thursday on the news just now! Not like last year, I hope (and it's our new vicar, Alex's, induction service on Thursday evening, so folk will be travelling down from N Wales)! Hope the soup is as good as your usual, and that DH has returned safely - also that you haven't been lifting things yet (a large pot of soup is NOT to be attempted, even now!!)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you've managed to get out at last, Helva, though sorry you're still not feeling 100%. How lovely to see those signs of spring in your garden. As you know we don't really have flower beds here and the daffodil at the back of the house are barely visible above the ground as yet.
DeleteDon't even mention the idea of snow, please. The Met Office website isn't showing any snow symbols and that's good enough for me. :-) I'll keep my fingers crossed for Thursday. The soup was great and I didn't even try to lift the pot when it was full, serving out in situ and then putting the rest into containers for freezing.
They are beautiful. I love the apricot colour.
ReplyDeleteThey really are, Molly. The colour started out as a deep burnt-orange, but is fading into apricot now.
DeleteBeautiful tulips, and a blessed reminder of Spring.
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely, Bonnie, and we need every sign of spring we can get after this winter.
DeleteThey're so lovely. What a beautiful gesture. Enjoy your husband's homecoming and the soup. :)
ReplyDeleteAren't they, Jennifer? My little sister is good at kind gestures like this. DH and I had a very pleasant evening after his return, enjoying the soup on trays in front of the TV. :-)
DeleteNot a colour I would ever have thought of putting into a blue jug and yet it works perfectly. Lovely blend of colours, and I'm so glad you leave some of the leaves on. Tulips look so stiff when they're stripped of the lovely soft green.
ReplyDeleteWe have had an absolutely beautiful morning here, followed by a wet afternoon, but the whole winter has been so mild that my garden is currently sporting, winter jasmine, red witch hazel, snowdrops, crocus, hellebores and a red chaenomoles, amazing for February.
Enjoy the soup, it looks very appetising.
Needs must when you have as few flower containers as I do, Ray, but this jug has hints of brown and orange in its glaze which are really set off by the colour of the tulips. I was really pleased to see so many leaves in the bunch, as too often most or even all of them are stripped away before packing. Flowers without foliage just look wrong to me.
DeleteWe too had glimpses of the sun yesterday morning, just as we have today, but the dratted rain keeps returning. I'm glad your garden is already flourishing and blooming, We'll just have to pray we don't get a late onslaught of winter weather as we did last March.
The soup was carrot and lentil and was delicious. :-)
Spring has indeed arrived in your kitchen. Such a simple photo that holds such a promise of warmer weather.
ReplyDeleteI checked out the Green Dragon ... a magnificent beast!!
And warmer weather is just what we all need over here, Shirley, though you must be longing for it to cool down. There's nothing like a bunch of flowers to bring the seasons indoors.
DeleteMy brother-in-law will be delighted to know you admire his treasure. :-)
A blaze of tulips ...and the Little Green Dragon takes to the road again...spring must be upon you at last.
ReplyDeleteI do like your kitchen cupboards....if you don't mind I'll show the pic to the carpenter to give him ideas for the kitchen in the new house.
Well, that's the hope, Helen, though the reality is proving very slow and fickle. It's been so mild that everything's budding, but so grey that things are hesitant to bloom.
DeleteGlad to hear you like the cupboards. I feel in love with the design as soon as I saw it and DH and I had a weird kind of fun installing them all a few years ago. I've got some much clearer photos which I'll email to you. The wood is elm, imported from eastern Europe of course. It has a lovely fine grain.
Lovely tulips to brighten any day. You mentioned that I would need a holiday to recover from all my winter activities but, of course, it is summer here. Things are starting to quieten down now. I can rest over winter.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely brightening mine, Susan. Silly me, of course it's summer for you. A Freudian slip, I think, given that our poor winter weather seems to be dragging on. I forget things are different elsewhere :-).
DeleteLittle sisters are the best! What beautiful tulips, kissed by a touch of sunlight, in that beautiful warm yellow/pink colour. Perfect in a blue jug. We love carrot cake in our house, too, and soup for all occasions. May the dull skies soon be gone, Perpetua!
ReplyDeleteMine certainly is, Patricia It was very watery sunlight that kissed them, just enough to add some highlights. The colour started off as burnt-orange but is paling to apricot now. Sadly the carrot cake vanished far too soon, though this is probably a good thing for my waistline.... This week's forecast shows sunny intervals and showers, which is a vast improvement over gales and heavy rain. :-)
DeleteSuch a happy post full of joy, Perpetua, in spite of impending rain. Your flowers are lovely and I can't help but admire the blue pitcher they sit in. I love pottery and flowers together like this. I'm sure the soup will be that warm welcome for DH, and maybe a piece of carrot cake.
ReplyDeleteYes, i was feeling very contented when I wrote it, Penny, knowing DH was on his way home. :-) The flowers are keeping very well in our cool kitchen, so I'll be enjoying them for a while. The jug is the work of a Welsh potter and I bought it with part of my leaving gift when I retired from my post at the library, which gives it a special significance. The soup went down very well with DH, but sadly the last crumbs of the carrot cake disappeared days ago...
DeleteI love the colour of those tulips in your blue pottery jug. It's always uplifting to have visitors with the opportunity for a good chat and I'm sure DH received a warm welcome home.
ReplyDeleteThey do go together remarkably well, Linda, which why I wanted to capture them. My sister knew I would be at home without a car this weekend. so it was lovely to have a nice long chat with her and her husband. Yes, it's good to have DH home again where he belongs. :-)
DeleteTulips and sunflowers are my favourite blooms. I can't wait to get my hands on some soon.
ReplyDeleteDo French supermarkets not sell flowers, MM? My lovely tulips came from the local Co-op which always has a decent selection, even in the depths of winter. Mind you, spring will be arriving any moment in the Languedoc and you'll have flowers galore.
DeleteYou are so right - I can feel a walk into town and a bunch of tulips coming on - just as soon as the rain stops! :)
ReplyDeleteHey, Anny, nice to see you. :-) I must catch up with your other blog. We're 6 miles from town, so to have visitors arrive bearing gifts was such fun. Enjoy your walk and your tulips.
DeleteRemembering how much a yellow MG leaked, I hope the green MGB isn't out in the Spring rain.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm sure it does, but my brother-in-law has a nifty fitted rain-cover for it which does the job. Hopefully we've seen the last of the Biblical downpours.
DeleteOh how I love your tulips Perpetua, they are one of my favourites. They do indeed look beautiful in the blue vase. Now, carrot cake is a very firm favourite in our house and my mouth waters at the very thought of it. :-)
ReplyDeletePatricia x
I love the variety of colours in tulips, Patricia, but this is a particularly rich and luscious shade which contrasts beautifully with the blue pottery. The carrot cake was equally luscious and didn't last long, I'm afraid. :-)
DeleteSimply delightful to be able to be given such a beautiful bunch of tulips Perpetua.. Their color is stunning .. They look lovely on your kitchen table.
ReplyDeleteAlways great to have family, and put the world to rights!!! happens with us too.
Hope DH enjoyed his meal.. A lovely welcome home.
wishing you a happy week .. val x
It was such a kind thought, Val, and one which has given me a great deal of pleasure as well as a blog post. :-) My sister and I (indeed all my sisters) could talk the hind leg off a donkey, as the saying goes, so there's no such thing as coffee and a short chat where we're concerned.
DeleteDH did indeed enjoy his meal and is glad to be home again after a busy weekend.
I once had an old school friend in Lancashire who told me often I could talk a glass eye to sleep, and she was no slouch at holding forth herself. It's a Lancastrian trait, I think, at least amongst the womenfolk. The men might be of a more taciturn disposition, or at least talk a little more slowly, any how!
DeleteNow that's an expression that's new to me. I like it. I reckon the men are taciturn because they can't get a word in edgeways once the women start talking. :-) Over the years I've had to learned to listen more and talk less, especially in parish work, but when we lot get together I think I can still hold my own....
DeleteDear Perpetua - how lovely that your sister and her husband called to see you with some pretty red tulips and delicious carrot cake. You are fortunate that they are near enough to visit.
ReplyDeleteI bet that they have a great time scooting down the country lanes during warm sunny days in the Little Green Dragon.
Rosemary, it's lovely to have them living only about six miles away in our little market town, so we see them quite regularly. I don't think my camera did the colour of the tulips justice.They are much more of a burnt-orange, gently fading to apricot, rather than a true red. I can't remember seeing tulips of this shade before.
DeleteYou're quite right that the two of them have a wonderful time out and about in the Little Green Dragon with the sun and wind on their faces.
If that is how it is, then spring must be on its way.
ReplyDeleteStill, a big pot of home made soup goes down well at any time, with the exception of high summer (ha, when is that ever likely to happen?), particularly while admiring a springlike bunch of tulips at the same time.
This is the first I hear of dragons LEAVING Wales. I thought it’s their spiritual home?
I think it is and even your garden agrees. :-) Still, that won't stop me making soup as it's a year-round favourite for us except in a heatwave. I've never really acquired a taste for chilled soups. The tulips are lasting beautifully, so i'll be enjoying them for a little while yet.
DeleteAs for the Little Green Dragon, she's an incomer to Wales and has obviously found her spiritual home.
OH! Tulips and visitors and a pot of soup. :-) That sounds lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt was six below zero at the bus stop this morning, Perpetua. Wales sounds like Florida at this point.
Pearl
Good to see you, Pearl, and yes they were lovely.
DeleteBrrr, that's a frighteningly cold start to the day, especially when we're nearly in March. I wish we could send you some of our mild weather. I reckon you'd be happy to exchange your snow for some Welsh rain. Hope the weather changes for you soon.
We live mainly on soup during the winter here, but not so much this year as we really haven't had a winter. I'm not complaining but the farmers desperately need the rain.
ReplyDeleteI love tulips and have probably mentioned before that they originated in Turkey, and not Holland, as most people believe. Lovely vase to display them in too x
The weather has been weird this winter everywhere, Ayak. I wish we could share some of our excess rain with Turkey's farmers. The lack of cold hasn't stopped us eating soup, though, and we have it very regularly for supper.
DeleteI had no idea tulips originated in Turkey, though I've read about the extraordinary tulip craze in Holland in the C17th. I feel an internet search coming on. :-) The blue jug is a favourite of mine too.
Gasp! I was excited enough about the glorious tulips and the thought of carrot cake - and then I discovered the LGD! That is the car I have dreamed of owning since I was a first-year undergraduate! I think I even opened a post office account to start saving for my Br. racing green MG, but it only ever had about £15 in it before I admitted defeat. :) Recently I have seriously considering saving up for it again. (Mid-life crisis?!) I wish your sister sunny days and much joy of her little green dragon.
ReplyDeleteWell, blogging reveals the most unexpected secrets! I'd never have had you down as a sport's car enthusiast, DB, which shows how little we know about other people. :) Owning an MG was a very long-cherished ambition for my brother-in-law, which he was finally able to achieve last spring. She needs a fair bit of work, which is gradually being done, but the two of them are already enjoying her enormously. So don't give up hope - your day may well come.
DeleteWhat a perfect gift: a little touch of spring, a bit early, after so much gloomy weather! And a pot of soup sounds perfect to make your home even warmer and welcoming!
ReplyDeleteA perfect gift indeed, Kathy and the tulips are lasting beautifully. Soup is a great favourite of ours for evening meals, especially when I don't quite know when DH will be home. A little more simmering never hurts. :-)
DeleteWhat a wonderfully vibrant splash of spring colour ... just the lift I needed ... methinks I need to come by some tulips of my own!
ReplyDeleteThey're gorgeous, Annie and are keeping so well. I think I could have them for another week at this rate. Go on, treat yourself. You know you want to. :D
DeleteWhat beautiful tulips, Perpetua. They definitely sing of spring! I'm so glad you had a lovely visit with your sister and her husband and I know those times of sharing are precious. What a smashing little car! When I was younger I really wanted an MG…maybe everyone did. :-) So what kind of soup did you end up preparing? Have you yet heard? We are enjoying some rain!
ReplyDeleteI'm SO pleased to hear you're having some rain at last, Debra. You really do need it. Here's hoping it isn't just a splash.
DeleteThe tulips are beautiful and are still not fully open, so I'll be enjoying them for a while longer. Talking of spring, I spotted the first primroses in bloom in the hedgerow today - just one plant ijn a sheltered spot, but a harbinger of spring nonetheless. :-) My sister and I always enjoy a good long chat when we see each other, though I have to confess I don't share their passion for classic sports cars. I prefer modern comfort.
The soup was carrot and lentil - easy to make and deliciously tasty and satisfying.