May 2018 |
PRELUDE TO MAY
May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is the month of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. * Tuesday 1st May We have had some days of frost, and it is still very cold outside. * 4th of May Suddenly our garden is full of birds, many of them seeking food for their young. Clusters of pigeons peck at the soft bread broken for them while crows fly off with beaks full of bread for their nestling - It is heartening to see this innate kindness in birds and mammals towards their young. * The trees are almost in full bloom while the flower-beds are radiant with colour from cultivated plants and with what human-beings call weeds. The dandelion flowers are a brilliant gold in colour although they are named after their leaves - which, when translated from the French, mean the teeth of lions - which is a good description even if most of us are not acquainted with lions in such close proximity ! * Saturday 12th The weather suddenly changed some days ago, becoming warm and sunny. The foxes now appear at daybreak and munch away at the soft bread, which they share with the birds. The birds are feeding their young and big black crows fill their beaks with food and fly away. * The whole garden has become a sheltered area surrounded by trees in full leaf. We can no longer see the Welsh hills beyond the colourful background of blossom. Petals, blown away by the wind, pattern the grass within our enclosure. Birds sing before dawn, reminding me to feed them SOON ..... * On Saturday 5th of this month we received a large order for Mandala Cards from the Buckfast Abbey Bookshop. With the patient help of Sister Monica, after I had cut the cards to their right size, she prepared them for posting, placing them in individual envelopes, each one in a see-through plastic cover. There are approximately some 350 of them ..... They will be ready for a parcel collection early next week. * Sister Monica will celebrate her 90th birthday tomorrow. Members of her family are due this evening and they will stay in our guest-house over the weekend. *
Hellebore 17th May The weather has become very warm, and the dawn chorus is earlier every day. Sister Monica had a very happy birthday celebration on Sunday 13th May. A relation had baked a wonderful cake for her, which we are all still sharing. * On Wednesday morning, the 16th May, I learned that my brother had died earlier that very morning. My sister Ylva phoned from Holland to give me the sad news. Our brother had fallen backwards while examining the some radiators in the family home in Uetersen, Holstein. When he had not returned to ground level an hour later his wife Ingrid went to look for him and found that her beloved husband was dead. My brother was 80 years of age. All members of his family are devastated. Ingrid is undoubtedly suffering the most.... May Klaus-Magnus rest in peace. *
Klaus-Magnus and his sister Nora c.1945 * The birds are still singing ..... * 18th May My week in the kitchen ends tomorrow - which is quite a relief ! I enjoy preparing fresh vegetables early in the morning, during the night silence. The vegetables are then ready to be cooked after breakfast. * Now that the mating season is over the foxes come early in the morning - at about 5.30 a.m.. The magpies - courageous birds - keep their distance but peck away at the soft bread, recently broken. This also reminds me of our Holy Communion at Mass every day when we remember those especially who need our prayer. * Tuesday 22nd May
The Darkness and the Dawn When Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden of Eden they wandered over the face of the earth. The sun began to set, and they looked with fear at the lessening of the light, and felt a horror like death steal over their hearts. The light of heaven grew paler, and the wretched ones clasped each other in an agony of despair. Then all grew dark. The luckless ones fell on the earth, silent, and thought God had withdrawn from them the light for ever; and they spent the night in tears. But a beam of light began to rise over the eastern hills, after many hours of darkness, and the golden sun came back and dried the tears of Adam and Eve, and then they cried out with joy and said, Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning; this is a law God hath laid upon Nature. From the Talmund * 23rd May The dawn chorus begins very early in the morning now. Having dressed, and after feeding cat Brunie, I hasten downstairs to break bread for the birds. A solitary herring - gull floats down from the sky to peck at the scraps left by the cat called Cornflake. ( He was given that name because his fur is the colour of a golden breakfast cereal ....) * 24th May The weather today is very warm but overcast. Today Dave our gardener was again accompanied by his friend - also called Dave - and they worked steadily in the garden all morning. Our one acre of land needs much attention this time of year. Both Daves seem to enjoy working out of doors.
* A recently discovered fragment of old wallpaper - a herald of summer.
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Ingathering |