Riverman under cliff: spring

I think that my little garden hedgehog has woken up.

Yesterday I walked into my slough-sogged garden and the little scrap of tree bark that had sheltered him from the sleet and snow these many months had been tossed onto the damp dandelion patch. I suppose he got too hungry to wait for the BBC weatherman to officially announce the end of winter.

Taking my prickly friend's cue, my neighbours started demolishing the mossy frost-bitten fence fringing their lawn yesterday, and I swear there was a faint whir of a lawn mower in the air today. Soon patio furniture will be dusted out and washing lines spun out against the sky.

A garden comes to life round about this time in the year. She spends the winter huddled under thick and dreamy duvets, and one miraculous day, She gives a big shuddering yawn, stretches her branches, tosses off her blankets and opens her eyes... and after a little look around, she heaves to her feet and picks up a broom.

I think that I will do the same too! There is much to clean out over the last year. There's that crate of last year's wine-turning-to-vinegar under the kitchen sink and a ton of over-ripened-fruit-jam-jarred in the larder to clear away.

So come on Reader! We will start with the Jam, and maybe leave the wine for next week...

There's some pretty good stuff here in these jars... sweet, tart, tangy and wild. Quite a while and a couple of burnt fingers ago, I ladled multi-coloured-mini-orchards into these pots and now they are a sturdy little demonstration on well-preserved-perseverance (yeah, Corny I know... but I can't resist).

Here's a great recipe for home-made jam courtesy of the riverman~~~. It definitely goes a long-way to sweetening bitterly depressing winter-to-spring days. For those of you who don't know what the hell this recipe is about, please accept my apologies. The riverman~~~ sometimes writes in code just to infuriate you! For the code-breakers (i.e. namely the attendees of last week's welcome feast-fest for Tania at my place)... enjoy!

_______________________________

Ingredients:

(1) Friends (as many as you can get together on a cold and miserable day) Preferably pick the ones that sprout in the wild and are consequentially more sturdily sincere. For a taste of the exotic obtain the ones that grow overseas in sunny tropical climes (they actually taste sweeter!). If you are into the "organic" thing, try to obtain the ones that grow near farmyards (Trish, you know what I mean!). For the best combination for this jam, get a mixture of local, exotic and organic varieties.
(2) Chicken Wings (the sort that only Sarah Lee can make. You know, the sort that you can't stop eating once you start... Yes, the dangerous sort!)
(3) Lurid Green Deck Chairs. (The "Luridder" the better!)
(4) 7 to 8 pots of Earl Grey Tea (Earl Grey, being the only type of tea in my cupboard other than Chamomile)
(5) 1 Bottle of Bubbly (simply for a taste of luxury or for those who can't do without alchoholic infusions)
(6) 2 boxes of Char Siew for taste (and a wave of home-sickness)
(7) 1 tray of Egg-Tarts from Soho bakery ( Try not to eat all of these yourself before you start cooking.)
(8) Kueh Lapis (Guest Starring from Begawan Solo, Singapore)
(9) Crispy Cremes (as a substitute for ssssh-shugggg-a-a-arrr!!)
(10) A cold and rainy March afternoon...

Equally important and vital ingredients:

(11) A mighty splash of Tania's Laughter
(12) A robust dash of Leslie's Pepper-Wit
(13) A blinding flash of Sarah's Culinary Genius
(14) A taste of Animal Husbandry from Trish
(15) A little bit of Japanese Art from Asako
(16) A sliver of Naughtiness from Ling and
(17) A wee bit of "Bob the Builder" from Daniel
(18) One hour's worth of "Shrek"
(19) One DVD player Remote Control
(20) One feature length Cheesy Movie (the cheesier the better, and preferably one involving falling-stars, witches who ride goat-drawn-chariots and Robert De-Niro in a pink-lace-dress).

Instructions:

Sprinkle Friends liberally over Lurid Green Deck Chairs in living room. Toss in Crispy Cremes and Chicken Wings intermittently while maintaining a constant stream of Earl Grey Tea.

Proffer Bubbly to Friends and proceed to drink most of it yourself. Sing Bob-the-Builder as Daniel attempts acrobatics over the Lurid Green Deck Chairs.

Stir in Char Siew and bring the whole mixture to stew over the latest gossip.

Distract John by offering him the DVD Player Remote-Control, and ensure that Daniel survives the evening by playing Shrek.

Slice and dice Trish's Animal Husbandry and mix with Leslie's Pepper Wit until combustible. Slowly add to the mixture until bubbles of Tania's Laughter surface. Then under Sarah's Culinary Genius, whisk in the Kueh Lapis followed quickly by the Egg Tarts. Allow entire mixture to simmer but not boil over.

Throw in Ling's Naughtiness to taste and finally garnish with Asako's Japanese Art on the side. Place mixture in front of the Cheesy Movie and allow jam to set.

Once cool, ladle into jam pots for another day, or if you can't wait - dig in!

Take it from me Reader...

It's totally Yummm!!!

And for the wonderful people who made last weekend such a mad and crazy affair! Thank You!

~~~

I woke up on Good Friday morning with a grin on my face that, I am sorry to report, has stayed plastered put ever since.

Now, waking up with a smile on your face is hardly a case for apprehension, but the alarm bells started ringing when I realised I could not stop smiling. After a messy attempt at brushing my teeth (well, go ahead and try that while smiling!), and after scaring the tail off the cat next door, I attempted to knead away what I hoped were very deep sleep lines from my cheeks, alas, to no avail...

It was then I realised that I had inadvertently succumbed to the enchantment that comes my way this time of the year... the "magick of Maia"... "the

fascination of Frühling"... and for want of a better term, what I call most un-poetically - the bewitchment of -

Boi-i-i-ing!!!

So it's Spring...Spring... Spring!!! And I discover to my delight that the Earth is like a child that knows some pretty wonderful poetry... more studied than a Shakespearean sonnet, and more ludicrous than the looniest limerick!

She has been a while in coming, but when

She comes, She floods out of a burst dam, "like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers".

So as I type out this post with that one-week-old smirk on my face, I bitterly blame Her for this interim-mic insanity... this batty-barmy appetite for catching Frisbees in my mouth and stalking deer in Richmond P

ark...

I blame Her for dangerous liaisons with my lawn mower and attempted arson in my barbecue grill... I blame Her for popcorn-tossing my laundry over the grass and into my neighbour's dog's mouth...

...and lastly I blame Her for making me laugh through it all!

And so I raise my glass...

Here's to promises in April that May is bound to keep... Here's to the whim to whistle standing in a shoe filled with slush... Here's to six directions of "Green-Billions of leaf buds" in my garden... Here's to the recklessness of dandelions and the bold brushstrokes of the trees... Here's to sitting quietly ... doing nothing ... and listening intently to a concerto of birdsong and a choir of bees...

There is a calm and wise maternity in Spring, and a sort of incubatory hope. From hard winter soil She dares out the daffodils and dragonflies, while we hoe through the season and await our best anticipations.... And when we look up from our busied earth and wipe our brow, we realise that She has made Her own statement, and that Her natural compositions outdo

the most talented gardener.

She is a thief of thought and a looter of language and She stirs all reason into sunshine - simple... wild... mad...

and leaves me wordless except for this childish urge to cry out...

...Boi-i-i-ing!!!

... and in so doing sweep up all the joy of the moment and all the brash of the splash of colour around me!

And so, without further ado Reader, I hereby rise up against the government of grammar, defy the dictates of the dictionary and leave you with my beautiful moments of

Boi-i-i-ing!!! over this past week!