MAY - "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come."

 "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come."

Song of Solomon Chapter 2 verse 12

Bluebells and laburnum

In my inbox I noticed a message from the Smiley Movement. Someone directed me to it a while ago. It's such a good idea but it wasn't quite what I expected so I never really engaged with the site. Today's message is headlined "Football wins and generous billionaires".  In this blog you'll find nothing popular like football and nothing money-linked to make you smile. 

I write about the natural world around me and pepper my writing with memories of the places I've lived and, sometimes, of the dear people who have touched my life so far. 

The readers of this "What's It Like Up There" blog now total sixty three thousand, four hundred and forty four since the first one was published for me by my daughter, Clemency, in September 2018. 

This is heart-warming. Thank you.

Bees and alliums

May began in a beautiful, magical way. The beauty of a May morning is something impossible to describe in words. It projects hope and new life and the opportunity to shake off the constraints of those preceding months which, although often pointing us in the direction of summer, can send us back indoors in a hurry!

On May the first, Ginny, Judith and Clemency went outside for their annual face wash!!  This has happened for some years on May the first and, if you refer to the folklore of our islands, you'll see that people have taken this very seriously for a very long time! Not so my three younger daughters - their Mayday cleansing is a bit of harmless fun.

It was also the day that I could tick off my house plant list. Over the previous week I had been putting my houseplants outside in twos and threes so they could get a feel of the sun and gentle rain. The rain wasn't always gentle and that was the reason I only put them out in small numbers so that I could hurry them away indoors should the weather turn unpleasant. On May the first I set the last pair just by the French windows. 

On the way home from the dentist, Ginny and I noticed lots of primroses on the Watten back road and huge swathes of dandelions everywhere. Although I frown at a dandelion if it dares to creep in amongst my flowers, I do love to see them on the roadsides. They are each like a little sunshine with rays coming from the centre.

The next day the weather wasn't so good and I lit a fire for the first time in a while. The day after that was such an improvement that I spent the entire time in the garden and forgot the pork roast I had left in the oven for the family. This is me! It's not new - I've always lost myself and my sense of time when I am out of doors. Nowadays I am unable to do as much as I used to but I'm an enthusiastic potterer!!

Cottage garden

Keith planted out his tomatoes in his clever tomato pots and now they are sitting on the conservatory window ledges in their wigwams. He has one plant of each of the following varieties - Shirley F1, Cherry Falls, Burlesque, Moneymaker, Tigerella and Tutti Frutti. 

Now, near the end of the month, they all have flowers.

They maybe invasive but I love rhododendrons 

At the beginning of May I noticed the apple blossom on the little tree outside the pantry window and now most of the fruit trees have at least a little blossom and some, such as the James Grieve, have lots. We are very hopeful for the orchard which we've been adding to since we decided fruit bearing trees would help us feed ourselves and would be an excellent use for the paddock. Clemency has been researching varieties suited to our northern climate and has found that Swedish strains are compatible.

The May winds will not shake off a tendency to blow from the north. They are not all north winds but, just when we think we have said goodbye to wintry weather, we notice a biting breeze from the Arctic. I'm hoping that will change very soon. One day we were heading homeward after exercising the dogs - and exercising me too!! - and were assaulted by sleet and hail. Now come on May! This is just not on!! My late friend, Noreen, lived in Canada for a long time and she said that the snow doesn't clear until May there so I keep reminding myself of that!

At the end of the first week the overnight temperature fell below zero. I checked my young plants and they seemed okay - they seem to be more at risk from slugs. I save used kitchen foil and put it around the pots of some of the plants favoured by the slugs. Last year I learned that it doesn't work in the garden - perhaps because birds and mammals push it out of position as they move through the garden - but it works in plant pots. The outdoor plants which are growing in pots are able to keep their foil without interference. Yesterday I made a silver collar out of foil for my pumpkin plant. This year is the first time I have tried to grow a pumpkin. Last year Ginny grew some pumpkin plants from seeds which she was given at Christmas but she wasn't very pleased with them. Now there's a challenge!

I have planted a pink clematis with my evergreen clematis and my Warsaw clematis. They are all cohabiting underneath a not-very-clever frame I made for the cottage garden. Last year the Warsaw clematis had one flower only so I'm hoping for another this year - or perhaps another two?? The evergreen clematis has struggled since we brought it from Argyle Square when we moved here in 2021 so I planted the pink one to replace it. Now I have a lovely fat bud on the evergreen clematis! It's not looking very evergreen but it has a healthy pale yellow bud. That's Nature for you! No way of knowing!!!

Pink clematis on the garage

The two clematis - one white and one pink - growing along the garage are amazing at present and fill the air with fragrance. 

We soon won't be able to get into the garage through the side door!!

Judith and Ginny have been clearing a small area in the orchard and have planted a number of gooseberry bushes there. I'm quite excited by them as I love gooseberry pie and they love gooseberry crumble. Gooseberries grew well in my grandparents' garden. I remember when I reached the age to harvest them sensibly - with Granny watching over me in case I damaged my hands!

A while before we moved from North Lincolnshire to Orkney in 1986, I read an article in the newspaper. It was written by Josceline Dimbleby and she suggested putting a little mint with gooseberries. I tried it then and I still add mint to gooseberry dishes - more than forty years later! Use fresh mint and chop it up very small. The blend seems to encapsulate early summer.

At the end of March, Judith started this year's tick regime with Orlando and Jessie. We have deer in the old mill pond and so many hares you wouldn't believe me. You'll know about our other visitors from earlier blogs - so it is clear why we see so many ticks on the dogs. They're spaniels with spaniel habits so it would be unkind to stop them going into long grasses and the like. This month they had another dose of their anti-tick medicine. 

Dolly was put to sleep on the ninth of this month. She was in a lot of pain and very unhappy. We were all sad but there was a sense of relief too - that she is no longer suffering. The vets are so kind. I can't sing their praises highly enough. Rest in peace Dolly. 

This year I mean to have some dahlias. They don't really like me very much but I can live with that as long as they flower. I think they're rather like showily dressed ladies with lots of make-up! They're fascinating to look at but you wouldn't want them indoors - the dahlias not the ladies! For one thing - the dahlias have so many little creepy crawlies inside their petals - especially earwigs!!! 

I planted six pompom dahlias this year. I planted three into the garden and I'm keeping the other three in pots - one pot each. One of the garden dahlias didn't look too well this morning so I gave it a good soaking.

The horse chestnut making a comeback after Storm Floris

Clemency made a solar powered fountain in the raised pond. It blends well with the trees all around it. She has placed the solar panels on the grass over the wall from the water garden so that it gets the sun from the south and the west. It is made from pieces of wood from the trees - we had to take some branches off to allow more light into the water garden - and large shells with an old flower pot and an old ceramic pot which used to hold flour and into which she was able to drill a hole. It is so simple and yet so clever!!!! Early in the day the solar panels don't get too much sun so it is just a trickle but by midday there is a significant flow of water.

Clem also set up a much smaller fountain in the tiny pond which she made in the yard by removing flagstones and lining it with pond liner. There is a very pretty king cup in there too. 

When we came, the yard was all flagstones. It looked neat but sterile. The decision was made to remove some of the flagstones in order to create little areas of living things. Along with carefully placed pots these understated plots bring colour and cheer to what has become, over the years, the main entrance. Many, many years ago the main entrance led up to the central storm porch and an inner door with leaded lights. It's rarely used now but we open up the external door of the storm porch in good weather to allow the sunshine into the hall. Our smallest grandchild knows, in a game of hide and seek, that she can hide under the leaded lights in the storm porch without being seen - as long as she gets a grown-up to open the heavy interior door for her! Said adult is sworn to secrecy!

Today we watched a baby bird being fed by its parents. To me this is one of the greatest joys of springtime. The new life in evidence is pure magic. Our neighbour has ducklings. We have baby quails. The doe hares visit their babies to allow them to suckle briefly - then they're off again! Not great mums really - but the leverets have known nothing else. 

Lambs and calves are everywhere you look in the fields and our secret visitors - or so they think - most likely have young too. Thankfully our visitors are blissfully unaware of the trail cameras!

The birdsong has been a thrilling symphony recently. I know that I romanticise it when I say that they seem to be singing out their thanks for their wonderful world but it really sounds just like that to me! It would be hard not to notice their exquisite music.  Even the quietly cooing doves have a message.

Another lovely thing that is difficult to miss at this time of the year is the fragrance all around us. I wish I could capture it for you and include it here! As well as the fragrance of flowers, the soil in springtime has its own sweet and rich perfume. The combination of the smell of the damp earth and the flowering plants is out of this world.

The mallards have babies and they were out for exercise on the river at the weekend. The photo was taken with a phone so isn't detailed but you'll hopefully get the picture. Our River Forss is a salmon river and there is a timeshare stretch from Stempster Bridge to the estuary on the Atlantic coast. It supports a great deal of wildlife - much of it is not obvious. Occasionally we catch a glimpse of a bird or an animal who didn't mean to be glimpsed and, every time we do, it feels like a gift. At present we are waiting for the yellow irises to flower by the river. They seem a little late this year - maybe because the winter was cruel at times. You may remember we were cut off from the rest of the world at the beginning of the year? I'm not a scientist but I find it fascinating watching the countryside around me change and I try to work out its idiosyncrasies. For example, why did the Swedish Whitebeam in the cottage garden flower profusely in 2024 but hardly at all in 2025? It is now coming into flower and it looks like another good year. Obviously I'm not complaining but I wonder why.

Out for a paddle

Clemency would like to have ducks as well as her chickens and quail. I'm resisting! I remember when we lived at Deerness in Orkney, a troop of ducks adopted us for a short time. What a mess! We had flagstone floors - as we do now - but, honestly, the mess and its accompanying smell was unwelcome. They are cute and quite lovable but I have a good memory when it comes to extra cleaning!! Of course my position isn't going to be helped by the fact that our neighbour now has ducklings!!!

I'm growing two crab apple trees through a scheme set up by Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden. I kept them in their pots last year and, early this springtime, I planted them into the cottage garden. I was so relieved to find they now both have little rich green leaves -so dainty. I hope I haven't planted them too close together but I'm not expecting giants.

Angelica - no idea it would grow so big!

Early mornings have to be my favourite time of day. On school days I can't allow myself to spend too much time outside before doing the pack-ups and getting breakfast ready but, at the weekends and holidays, I love to sit and look and listen, keeping as still as possible. I soak up the joy of the morning. The overnight moisture - sometimes dew, sometimes rain - seems to thrill the plants. At this time of the year, on a calm day, it is delightfully warm. The birds are already very busy about their chores and an exquisite perfume fills the garden - you can't buy this one in a bottle! The chickens haven't seen me - they're way over in another part of the garden - but they know I'm there and so they start to chunter about not being let out. It's quite a lovely sound and reminds me of being a little girl at my grandparents' house in Belshaw Lane, Belton.

A crow sometimes comes when I'm sitting outside early in the morning. I've learned to love the crows. I used to resent them a little bit because they took so much of the food from the smaller birds. Now I realise that they protect the smaller birds too - from sparrowhawks and others. The crows seem to be able to call up a defence corps in a jiffy and they all chase away the predatory bird. As regards the food situation, yes, the crows seem to hoover up everything but, on closer inspection, the smaller fragments are left behind for the tinies. And the tinies have the delicious seeds and nuts at both feeding stations so they're really not too put out by the massive appetites of the crows!

My friend, Crow, of the feathered variety, has a very small beard and sits on the coping stones which top the laundry/shower room extension. From there he - or she - implores me to bring out the food. He's not very subtle as he/she snaps up each passing insect as an hors d'oeuvre. No, sorry, I'm going to finish my coffee first!

In the pink

I mentioned the chickens at my grandparents' cottage in Belshaw Lane, Belton, so I wonder if some readers will be interested to see these old newspaper articles about my granddad's father. This comes with a massive gratitude to all of those incredible people who sign up to protect me and to those who, over the centuries, have protected my ancestors from harm. My great grandfather, Reuben Temperton, was one such. My great grandmother, Louisa (formerly Dimbleby from the villages between Lincoln and Market Rasen), gave birth to my granddad in that same cottage. Rose Cottage, Northferry Farm and another smaller cottage in a little lane just off Belshaw, moved between family members for some years. Granddad Bobby was born when Reuben was away in South Africa. I found these newspaper cuttings this week when my friend and I were discussing the Boer War and the involvement of our ancestors. To be honest the British generals made some bad decisions but those who signed up were the ones with real courage. As someone who will always look for peace, I cannot celebrate war but I am deeply grateful to those who have protected me and my ancestors over centuries of misguided imperialism. 

2 newspaper cuttings from "The Epworth Bells"

Sadly, we see quite a few deceased toads on the roads around us. When driving in poor light it's easy to pick up deer and hares in the headlamps but you haven't a chance with frogs and toads. They're practically invisible on the road at night. It's so sad. I doubt if drivers even know they have run them over.

Last week, Ginny and Judith were moving a telegraph pole which Euan had sawn into sections a while ago. Underneath one of the sections they found a narrow run and a toad which reminded us of Toothless the dragon from the book/film, "How To Train Your Dragon". Frighteningly fetching!! It's interesting how toads change colour according to their habitat.  

Toothless the dragon/toad

In the same area they also found a pygmy shrew. That's the first we've seen here. We have many shrews but this is the first pygmy.

Another small creature we celebrated this month is the orange tip butterfly. It's a family favourite. We have grown clouded yellows (in Orkney) and swallowtails (in Lincolnshire) and love those but orange tips are also up there amongst our favourites. The ones we saw last week were amongst the honesty - now turning into beautiful seed cases - and in the kitchen garden as we were checking on the sitting lady quail. Ginny bemoaned the fact that she didn't have her camera - not even her phone!

Honesty slowly becoming little moons

When we have a lot of rain overnight I always wonder who I will meet in the shower room first thing in the morning. All sorts of rogues get in there somehow! Recently I found a large black beetle. No - it wasn't Alexander! 

I carefully caught it in a glass and put it amongst the pots just outside the French windows. As it left its short-term sentence it shook its tiny legs and I like to think that was a "Thank you and goodbye!"

Forgiven.

I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was his name,

And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.

I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day ...

And Nanny let my beetle out -

Yes, Nanny let my beetle out -

She went and let my beetle out -

And Beetle ran away.

She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,

She said she wanted matches and she just took off the lid,

She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch

An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.

She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind,

As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find,

If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid -

And we'd get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,

And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,

And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:

"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"

It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be,

And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be Me,

And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:

"I'm very very sorry that I tried to run away."

And Nanny's very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did,

And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,

So Nan and Me are friends, because it's difficult to catch

An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.

 

A.A.Milne

We seem to have a number of birds with yellow in their plumage. We have goldfinches, greenfinches, siskins, blue tits and great tits. They all have some yellow. This month Ginny saw and heard a yellow hammer too. I'm wondering if our local wildflowers - such as the gorse covering our hillsides and the yellow irises about to flower by the river - have something to do with it. An interesting thought!

I'm coming towards the end of this blog for the merry month of May and, as I look out through the French windows, I see, at the back of the little cottage garden, a short row of flowering trees - a mountain ash, an apple and the Swedish Whitebeam. Combine these with the buds on my "Poet's Wife" roses and on the climbing rose grown from a cutting given to me by a friend, and there is May in a nutshell! Everything pure and good. Everything full of hope. 

Shrubbery

The large "Poets Wife" was seriously damaged when we had work done on our chimneys a couple of years ago so Judith took a cutting and grew a second "Poets Wife". She has huge successes with cuttings - I rarely do! So now we have two very healthy "Poet's Wives"!!! The original grew back - I might take a small amount of credit for that???

The other happy story about these fresh May rose buds is that the budding climber came from my friend's garden where her own mother planted it many years ago. Isn't life wonderful?

from "The Children of Greene Knowe" by Lucy M. Boston:

(Tolly had just discovered that his ancestor was a ship's captain who sailed all over the world. Tolly's great grandmother is talking to him about a family portrait hanging over the fireplace)

"From France he brought that little dog for Linnet and a lot of rose trees for his wife. Those are the flowers in her basket. Roses were almost a new discovery, very fashionable and exciting. Everybody wanted to have some. They are growing here in the garden still."

"The same ones?"

"The same in a way, descended from them as you are from the captain."