When Spring finally takes hold, this oak tree is likely to be covered in the vibrant lime green of new growth. Likely, but not a guarantee – trees have their own seasons measured with a subtlety beyond our rush-rush human measures. There’s a season for us all. Some things we give up to make the change, others we ease into and take more on board with. We’re all changing, all the time. It’s all happening. It’s just not always that obvious. Thankfully.

Manifesto
02. Every day is an opportunity for a new beginning.
25. Every day your light shines for others to see.
40. Every day give things a chance to work out.

Except this one.

There were no white irises planted in our garden as far as I’m aware. We’ve never had white iris flowers in this spot before. So, where did this mysterious one come from? My guess is, it’s as a result of the unprecedented snow fall we had a couple of weeks back – somehow the snow transformed the usual dark velvety blues into crisp white. Suburban magic!

Manifesto
02. Every day is an opportunity for a new beginning.
08. Every day choose to bring about change.
32. Every day have a laugh.

While making the shot I wondered about the apple – to me, a food as well as a concept or an idea that resonates in so many ways of ‘home’. I could call up many memories in which apples had a role. Ubiquitous, but anything but common. Humble yet noble, the everyman (or woman) fruit.

If I was travelling to a far-off place what would I take? I decided that like the Victorians, yes, I think I probably would take an apple tree or two with me – for the fruit, the wood, for the love, for home, and for my new home. Across the globe, across the years.

Manifesto
04. Every day is an opportunity to cultivate the promise of the future.
14. Every day the ordinary can be the extraordinary.
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.

Taking in a deep breath I can smell the moisture, the parsley, the thyme, and the sun-warmed linen. The birds are calling, somewhere a lawn mower is meditating. Later summer, perhaps.

Lately everything seems there yesterday, gone today. For the moment, there was a silence, a stillness. The whole world catching a breath, taking a moment. And then the curtain ever-so-slowly, gently, drawn out by a restless breeze.

I breathed out.

Manifesto
02. Every day is an opportunity for a new beginning.
05. Every day is now. The present moment.
48. Every day there are things you can’t change. You can change the way you think about them and deal with them.

Simple. Elegant.

Could we be richer?

Manifesto
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.
42. Every day celebrate. Who you are. What you have achieved. Things that matter to you.

We’ve harvested some of the first of the crop, plucking the pods off the vines before the sun dried off the dew. A quick rinse and then sensuous ritual of cracking open the swollen pods and rolling the fat peas bouncing into a bowl. There’s a complete set of sounds associated with peas – the squeak of the pods, the plock of the pods as they snap open, the pluck of the peas parting from the pod, and the boing-bounce of the peas in the bowl. So far we haven’t cooked the peas – we can’t bring ourselves to spoil their crisp purity. This year we enjoyed their divine freshness in green salad – beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

We could buy frozen peas for cooking with if we really needed to. Or wanted to. Or could think of a reason why.

Manifesto
20. Every day say thank you.
29. Every day eat, drink, rest, work, exercise, play, love, create for your own good. And the good of others.
49. Every day is a good day.

It makes me smile. I want lay back on the grass and somehow drink it all in through the very pores of my skin. To remember the peaceful days, the graceful, grateful days.

Beautiful.

Manifesto
01. Every day is a fresh new day.
03. Every day is an opportunity to reflect on the past.
05. Every day is now. The present moment.

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, Rejoice, for your soul is alive. — Eleanora Duse

No clearer expression of Spring for me than the flowers of the Magnolia stellata – a native of Japan. The flowers appear before the leaves – a joyous sign of the end of Winter, no matter how lingering it seems to be. I always feel grateful to see the blossoms.

Manifesto
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.
39. Every day trust that there is a bigger picture. You are a part of it even if you may not know what it is.
48. Every day there are things you can’t change. You can change the way you think about them and deal with them.

The thing I like most about daffodils is their robust reliability. No matter how foul the weather has been, come Spring, daffodils are up and flowering. They make such great role models. It’s easy to feel down in the dumps, especially if things are not going as we think they should. I suspect that at any given point of the day there are at least three of our plans not going to plan. I’m sure this is true for daffodil plans too – however, they manage to take all of this in their stride and just get on with making a success of themselves on their own terms. Enviable clarity.

Manifesto
16. Every day looking at the order of things gives you power.
28. Every day you will be tested.
34. Every day focus on your dreams.

They always cheer me up.

Manifesto
15. Every day make a difference to yourself and others.
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.
32. Every day have a laugh.