A tipping point

The earth’s scales tipped in our favour yesterday as we passed the spring solstice when every point on our planet received light from the sun for 12 hours. Some places saw the sun no doubt, my garden had heavy cloud and rain, but above the clouds there was the sun, high over the equator and ready to head north and give my part of the world a taste of summer.

It wasn’t just me who noticed either, as if by magic after a winter of very sporadic laying, yesterday my hens each produced an egg. The wild birds were the most vocal and numerous yet this year and this morning a noticeable haze of green covers the garden as this year’s new leaves are all beginning to unfurl. Almost overnight a rose by the house wall burst into full leaf and my meadow lawn is now definitely appearing to be more meadow then lawn. Soon it will be time to mow a narrow path through so that I can wander around bee and butterfly watching without trampling emerging seedlings.

The frogspawn has gone, the eggs have hatched and somewhere around the edges of my pond will be tadpoles. Although I can’t see them, I have faith that they are there, ready to grow themselves through all their stages of metamorphosis until one day I know they will appear, deep down under the long grass as fully grown little frogs.

The cherry plum flower petals are scattered around like confetti and in their place are leaves, primed just like every other leaf, ready to absorb the sunlight for as many hours each day as they can.

Our gardens are all about change, it’s how the world works and here we can be part of the process and enjoy every moment.