O to be in England

Now that April’s there,

 

Robert Browning

I’ve been sorting through a pile of books and came across two poetry books, each with a poem for every day. I have a fancy to use these books as a prompt for doing something creative each day, though I know it won’t be every day and I’ll probably lose enthusiasm after a while. Or when I get to a difficult poem.

‘Home-thoughts, from Abroad’ by Robert Browning is the poem for today, which seems absolutely right on such a beautiful April day. Late April into May is surely one of the best times of year to be out in the English countryside and the fields here look green and fresh, despite the lack of rain (total so far across the whole farm for April = 1 thimbleful). If you plan to visit England, this is the time to come.

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There’s colour all over the farm. Weeds, blossom and wildflowers make a colourful contribution to the table.

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Walk across the fields and birdsong fills the air. Rifling through a heap of paper discarded from printing sessions I thought it might be fun to make some collages in my sketchbook, inspired by the poem and my walk today. Turns out that it’s way more difficult than it looks.

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How about you? Enjoying England? Wishing you were here? Or enjoying being somewhere else?