Daisies for Spring

Today is Shrove Tuesday, the day to use up all those luxury items before the abstinence of Lent … which of course in England means it’s Pancake Day!  When Rosie was young we used to love mixing and whisking, frying and flipping together.  Our family dog, Susie, was always close by to hoover up any pancakes that didn’t quite make it back to the pan after being tossed perhaps a little too high!  These days Pancake Day is a much more low-key affair in our house, but is still for me one of the earliest signs that spring is not too far away now.  Another early sign of the season’s changing is the appearance of the first few daisies on my lawn, along with primroses and daffodils in the borders.  Whilst I still have primroses in my borders…. 

I am not too sure that there will be daisies in my lawn this spring.  In fact I am not at all sure that I will have a lawn this year since, after Ben and Daisy’s happy canine wrestling and chasing games, I seem to have very little grass and quite a lot of mud!  Luckily daisies are guaranteed indoors with my latest pattern for the March issue of the Bustle & Sew Magazine….. 

…… a cheerful sort of hand embroidery pattern – with some applique details – another great project for your scraps!  The text is from Shakespeare (but with rather fewer cuckoos than in the original – sorry Will!) 

I think we’ll we’ll have to wait a while for the cuckoo to arrive – though Ben did chase one of our next-door neighbour’s hens up our bay tree this morning.  I don’t know how she escaped into our garden, but luckily she wasn’t harmed, though her feathers were definitely more than a little ruffled.   Silly hen!