Tulip Love

Hello again! I have loved the wonderfully warm sunny days which we've had lately, as well as the soft (and sometimes not so soft!) rain showers. May really is my favourite month of all, and fills me with great joy. All this rain and sunshine has resulted in a great deal of growing activity in the garden and surrounding countryside and at this time of year that mean just one thing - tulips! The garden has been full of them and they are sadly nearly over. But, oh my, they have been good.

'Angelique', one of my all-time favourites.

 

I love these stripey ones. When the sun goes in they twist shut.

This one is my favourite one this year. I bought it from the National Trust and it's called  'Black Parrot'. It's a beautiful shade of blackcurrant and is gorgeously feathery and ragged.

When we woke up yesterday morning and saw that the sun was shining I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Something that has become a tradition in recent years. We drove to our favourite farm shop, collected a yellow bucket from the kiosk, then headed across the fields. It was warm and gloriously bright. Swallows swooped, sheep bleated and children giggled in the play field - it felt good to be alive. We walked through the gate and stopped to take in the view.

A beautiful field full of pick-your-own tulips, just waiting to be gathered, taken home and admired. I must admit I felt quite giddy and may have hyperventilated slightly at the sight of them. 

I just stood and drank it all in. It's not a very big field, but there are so many blooms in furrowed rows. The colours on such a bright day positively glowed.

There are interesting signs with little bits of information about tulips. I managed to tear my eyes away from the flowers just long enough to read them. 

Where to start? I got down to business and started picking. I picked enough to share with my parents and brother and sister-in-law, so I made sure we had some of each variety. Before long the bucket was full, and it was time to pay. A bargain.

 Before we left we had a milkshake in the cafe (raspberry for me - my favourite), and stopped to look at this rather cuddly little person,

and these gorgeously fluffy people - aren't they sweet?

As we drove home we pulled over to look at some fields of oilseed rape. Wow, what a colour.

 Once home, I divided the tulips up between us, my parents and my brother and sister-in-law who came up to visit today.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed all this tulip love. I've been a bit more absent from blogging than I hoped lately and am sorry I haven't been visiting blogs. I'll show you what's been taking up my time soon. Fingers crossed, I plan to catch up properly with everyone this week. See you very soon x