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Spring!


mint
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Yes, it must be here:  daffodils in the garden, les grues flying overhead making a racket.

If anyone would like to post some spring-related bits and pieces, some poetry or some prose, in French or in English, maybe some photos, it would cheer me up no end.

Does anyone else feel in need of cheering up?

I promise that, when I come home later, I shall find something to post[:)]

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The last few lines of Ode to the West Wind by Shelley, especially the last line:

"Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!

Be through my lips to unawakened Earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"

Bon courage, Mint x

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I wander'd lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed - and gazed - but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.
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Have enjoyed all your contributions.  Some old favourites and some new unknowns.

As ALBF has pointed out, it is not yet spring in France........so don't believe the evidence of your own eyes!

Therefore here is a bit of Grand Corps Malade's les quatre saisons where he describes the bit just after Christmas but before spring proper:

j'ai vu la nuit qui tombait tôt

mais les gens qui marchaient plus vite

j'ai vu la chaleur des bistrots

avec de la buée sur les vitres

là dessus la nature est fidèle

j'ai vu le jour se lever tard

j'ai vu les guirlandes de Noël

qui me foutent le cafard ?

j'ai aimé avoir les mains gelées

pour les mettre au fond de mes poches

j'ai adoré marcher dehors

quand tu sais que la maison est proche

j'ai souris bêtement

en voyant qu'il n'y avait plus

de fleurs sur les balcons

j'ai regardé le ciel tout blanc

y avait même des flocons

certains matins j'ai vu que le givre

avait squatté derrière les fenêtres

j'ai vu les gens revenir du ski

avec la marque des lunettes

je commençais juste à m'y habituer

mais les jours ont rallongé

j'ai compris que le printemps

allait emménager

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Yes, in February we’re in winter, but looking forward to spring is a treat at this time of year.

One of my favourites:

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,

Twenty will not come again,

And take from seventy springs a score,

It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom

Fifty springs are little room,

About the woodlands I will go

To see the cherry hung with snow.

AE Housman
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Been off line due to several different circumstances, and what a trouble I had to get back on ... happily, I can now start looking, and more importantly, responding, again.

I used to sing a song "Spring, Spring, who loves the Spring", but without looking it up I cannot now remember the words, though I can remember the tune very well!

No snow here (well maybe a few floccons in the wind), but now cold, bright enough, but we have the usual problems of "feels like", so spring is definitely NOT here, even in the south of France, yet!

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  • 3 months later...
jj, a post that made me smile.

Yes, I'm afraid I was MUCH too optimistic.  It's warm all right but ye gads, the rain goes on and on.  As for the sky, if it's one of those painting by numbers kit, someone has mistaken the number for sky and painted it grey instead of cerulean blue

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Or even black, given the colour of the clouds as I climbed the hills between me and my destination today (in that car I hasten to add, no Maria von Trapp here today!), and as I descended into the valley the heavens opened.  Guess where the brolly was.  It had been  perfectly sunny and warm when I left home!n  The AGM was definitely enlivened by people arriving, cursing and shaking themselves, and their brollies (happily I had remembered where I'd put the "spare" brolly in the car by the time I arrived) so I include myself amongst them.  AGM was as usual (fairly boring, but informative enough and necessary), and at least the sun had come out on the way back to the car.  On arrival home, I found that we had not escaped the rain either, but it had stopped by my return.  Will it ever stop???

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Judith that sums up the weather in our France area atm. Certainly the forecast is thunderstorms and they have obliged for a short period.

But, hey, I think people who live here all the time forget that after rain in the UK (north especially) it remains wet and miserable all day whereas here it dries up pretty quickly (atm).

After this post will be going onto the patio to enjoy the last of the days rays. Not possible in my part of the UK.

Enjoy it. It could be a lot worse.

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Sunshine all day today and similar forecast for tomorrow.

Of course, that's because our UK visitor has left!  Rained the whole time he was with us and he kept telling us the weather was heaps better in London where he lived.

But, after all the discussion, the rain HAS been exceptional this winter and spring; certainly the worst for the 11 years we have lived here.

Hasn't affected me that much as illness has mainly kept me indoors and I even had Vit D defficiency!

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Mmm. Stayed in UK (north) last winter rather than elsewhere and, yes it was grim there too.

Been here (dordogneshire) since 1st June and, as I said was thundery at times but did clear up on every day for that period. In April, again it was better than UK and cleared up at times. Have known it to be superb in April dordogneshire though.

Will keep to my hypothesis that "familiarity does sometimes breed contempt" and the baseline of peoples perceptions do vary. There is a difference between the two areas.

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We have been here for 10 years after living in a damp and grey climate in Brittany.

We moved further south for an improvement in the weather.

Of the 10 years here, this has been the coldest, wettest and gloomiyest winters and spring that we have so far experienced in France.

I don't mind cold but can't bear the rain and grey sky.

Please weather God let us have summer.
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Just looking at lightningmaps and the whole of Italy is a mass of storms, with a few peripheral outbreaks around Geneva and some in Germany.

In SE U.K. it's rained very little over the past few weeks until a brief downpour today. Hoping things improve soon in France in time for my summer move over there in a few weeks. Normally my neighbours complain I bring the rain, but they can't blame me at the moment.

ETA: Here's an interesting little bilan from météo France: http://www.meteofrance.fr/climat-passe-et-futur/bilans-climatiques/bilan-2018/bulletin-climatique-du-printemps
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Wat rain? A couple of measly showers here so far, waterbutties well empty. Doubtless this will change but in the meantime, I am getting elongated arms like a chimp from carrying water for the tomatoes and beanz! And hotty, hotty, hotty??

Call me Mr. Suntan?
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