Now before I begin, I'd like to get one thing clear - it's not yet spring. As you may know, if you are unlucky enough to see my tweets, I get strangely irate about this. I'm not really sure why. There are many, many better things to get irate about - international human rights violations, climate change deniers, or pretty much anything that Sarah Palin says - but no, I expend my energy being cross about people ignoring the vernal equinox (well that and young men wearing their jeans below the pant line).
However, despite my belief that we are still languishing in winter, I have begun some spring cleaning. More specifically, I've tackled our garden playhouse - Willow Cottage.
I hadn't exactly planned to do this, but I have been having one of those weeks where my 'To Do List' may as well be framed, it's become that static. So, in a fit of energy fuelled more by desperation than anything else, I raced outside in the spare hour I had before school pick up time, and somehow managed to.... take everything out of the playhouse, brush and sand down the inside walls, give it all a coat of paint, shake out the carpet and put everything back. No, I don't know how I did it either.
I even put up some bunting. Surprisingly, despite it being a rather lovely pink and green concoction, more appealing to say, a 37-year-old woman, than a little boy, Father Christmas seemed to think it would be a lovely gift for little Archie (damn smart, that Santa fellow).
So now, the playhouse is again fit for human habitation - and it's already being used by the children on a daily basis. This is not exactly surprising - the days are lovely, but still a little chilly, yet the playhouse keeps off the worst of the weather and warms them up a little.
In fact, I have just realised, it's actually a child-sized cloche - perfect to bridge the gap between winter and spring (which, in case you were wondering, begins this year at 5.23pm on Saturday 20th March....AND NOT BEFORE!)
I appreciate that spring officially starts on the 20th March but does that mean that snowdrops are actually winter flowers?
Posted by: Helen | March 05, 2010 at 06:08 PM
You are being very strict about Spring (and,actually,with young men in low slung jeans).
It's all very well you holding to a firm line this year when everything is slow but (and this is a great big but about the size of Turin) after a warm winter I fear you may be left looking a tad foolish.
Daffodils in late February? Not unknown but firmly in the winter section of your very well organised Seasonal chest of drawers.
I'm only thinking about you as I would hate to think that doing the school run becomes a gauntlet of sniggering, pointing mothers jeering at your unbending adherence to the exact vernal equinox.
I think you should loosen up a bit: not so much,obviously, that your trousers slip beneath the designated pant line but just a little bit.
I like your playhouse and the bunting is most superior. Is it okay by modern parenting gurus to keep your children in a cloche? I am pretty certain that Dr Spock would have stern words to say although not as stern as he would if you kept your children in a forcing pot.
Actually that would be a mistake on many levels not least because, if forced, they would be very anaemic and would grow out of their clothes very quickly.
Posted by: JamesA-S | March 05, 2010 at 07:18 PM
I love that playhouse. I think I want one of my own. Maybe I could pass it off as intended for visiting children. It would of course have to have bunting. One of my talented blogging friends has told me how to make my own bunting. This sounds desperately unlikely but then again, I have just made socks!
I heard on the radio today that the met office reckon spring begins on 1 March. Clearly they have not consulted you as carefully as they should.
Posted by: elizabethm | March 05, 2010 at 07:36 PM
your playhouse is so sweet, i want to get one for my kiddies this year as they are such fun!
Posted by: Scented Sweetpeas | March 05, 2010 at 07:40 PM
We've still got a playhouse in our garden and my kids are 15 and 11. OK, so the 15 year old doesn't actually use it, but the 11 year old does, it's definitely worth the money we paid for it. Plus I get to shove all my junk in it throughout the winter months, which means that it doesn't have to be cleared out until 20th March. I'm with you on that one.
Posted by: Jo | March 06, 2010 at 09:30 AM
Oh dear Lord, Sarah Palin. She terrifyingly went on Leno this week and was introduced as a new stand up comic. Not a trace of irony about switching from her 'stand up' routine to her 'sit down and spout ignorant sh*te to the host' routine.
If you want to be chilled to the bone for reasons other than the winter frost, you can see a few clips of it on the Daily Show for a few more days at
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/4od#3039189.
It will make you cross. You have been warned...
Posted by: Joanne Roach | March 06, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Helen - I have always thought of snowdrops as winter flowers - think it's the 'snow' bit that does it!
James - I am already sniggered at and pointed to by the other mothers - but I don't think it has anything to do with the vernal equinox.
Also, Dr Spock may disapprove of the old child-cloche but I believe Gina Ford would positively encourage it - especially if the child is crying (and, quite frankly, she has a point).
Elizabeth - I know - the Met Office are trying to be terribly modern with the whole March 1 = spring thing and I wish they wouldn't be. What next? Michael fish in low slung jeans. I shudder at the thought.
SS - Do! I can't recommend them enough. Ours was just a flat pack B&Q affair but it's been up for about 4 years now and done very good service.
Jo - thank you - I feel I'm a lone voice on this whole spring = 20th March thing (although I'm slightly concerned you are simply using it as a ploy to put off clearing out the playhouse).
Posted by: Dawn/LittleGreenFingers | March 06, 2010 at 11:18 AM
"my 'To Do List' may as well be framed, it's become that static." What a perfect description of MY To Do list. Thanks for that!
I am astonished that you managed to do all that in a spare hour. Yes, amazing what desperation can drive us to accomplish in record time.
I do love the idea of children in cloches. I think I'd like a little cloche of my own like this actually. Spring is even farther off here in Canada.
Posted by: Sarah from Toronto Gardens | March 06, 2010 at 12:13 PM
Lovely willow cottage. Who is Sarah Palin?
Spring Equinox;-
In the Welsh Mabinogion, this is the day on which the restored Llew takes his vengeance on Goronwy by piercing him with the sunlight spear.
Perhaps best not share that with the other mothers on the school run
K
Posted by: Karen - An Artist's Garden | March 06, 2010 at 02:29 PM
Loved reading this post. You'd fit in great here where we still talk of winter (how can one not when there are large snowbanks everywhere?) Spring really doesn't arrive here until its designated date (and, in some years, well beyond). Willow Cottage is beautiful ~ no wonder it is getting use. I also learned that bunting refers to more than just the swathes of satin covering regal things. You must have used fast-drying paint!
Posted by: Kate | March 06, 2010 at 05:42 PM
This house is so charming!
About the winter, frozen nights in France tell me every day that it's not spring yet!
Posted by: Pauline Régnier | March 08, 2010 at 09:56 AM
Joanne - I love the Daily Show and you are so right - that 'Sarah Palin does stand up' was cringeworthy, even by her usual standards.
Sarah - everytime I visit your blog, I am reminded of how utterly pathetic our winters really are!
Karen - Sarah Palin was the running mate of John McCain in the US election and the poster girl of the Republicans - and also manages to say some appallingly silly things - http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/sarahpalin/a/palin-top-10.htm.
By the way - I bloody love the whole Llew and sunlight spears stuff (which is all new to me) - just another reason to love the vernal equinox!
Kate - have just seen your snow-covered wicker chairs on the blog - the least spring-like shot ever!
Pauline - Glad to have another supporter of the vernal equinox!
Posted by: Dawn/LittleGreenFingers | March 08, 2010 at 10:36 AM
Sarah Palin brings out the worst in me too. Not sure why.
Posted by: A Modern Mother | March 13, 2010 at 08:19 AM
AMM - Sarah Palin brings out the worst in Sarah Palin too!
Posted by: Dawn/LittleGreenFingers | March 15, 2010 at 09:46 AM
I don't even have a to do list. But I need a playhouse. I would use it as a little retreat for myself. How lovely :)
Posted by: Metropolitan Mum | March 16, 2010 at 04:08 PM
MM - you may be right - perhaps there is an untapped market in playhouses for harrassed parents.
Posted by: Dawn/LittleGreenFingers | March 19, 2010 at 12:42 PM