February can seem so dull, lacking the newness of the year in January or the spring joyfulness of March. The fields and the garden are too wet to work, there are muddy patches to negotiate on every walk and too many days are grey and overcast. It’s the time of year for catching up with all the niggling jobs that have been put off, for repairing machines and buildings and for sorting, cleaning, discarding, recycling and reorganising on the farm and in the house.
Thankfully, there are bright spots to relieve the greyness and tedium.
Farming conferences, farm machinery shows and training days bring a little light relief and we’ve been temporarily transported back into the sparkle and glitz of Christmas at trade shows while ordering our 2018 decorations.
Lichen on the bare branches of the hedges brings a splash of colour.
An ancient oak tree stands proud against the bright blue sky on a sunny day.
The shadow from a tree creates a piece of wall art on the side of a barn while …
… the shadow of a gate suggests the pattern for a parterre garden.
A bright day gives dramatic reflections in the window.
Looking in through a window, past the rippled reflections of the old glass, to see a piece of ivy still entwined amongst the candles makes me realise that I haven’t taken down all my Christmas decorations.
On a winter’s afternoon, the scattering of snowdrops and crocus underneath the apple tree holds the promise that spring isn’t too far away.
Maybe February isn’t so dull after all.
SLAMSEYS 
February is dull here, hot and dry, oh how I long for the rains
How I long for a little sun! In fairness, I love the different seasons and a little greyness in February is a small price to pay. You can keep your hot and dry 🙂
You sure? It is going cheap 😊
I decided the other day that February is the worst month in both hemispheres, cold and wet in the north, hot and so humid here in the south. But amongst that there are the bright spots, which you have found in your wonderful pictures (snowdrops and crocuses make my heart glad!) and here today it is beautifully cool, and it even rained last night, the first in a long time. So the bright spots become much more valued!
Maybe you’re right about February being the worst month wherever you live, as I’ve read a few pieces by people bemoaning the hot summer in Australia. One of the bonus of reading blogs is to make us appreciate what we have perhaps.
I can vouch for this! Feb is my least favourite month in both the U.K. and when I lived in Australia. Poor Feb.
Thank goodness it’s a short month.
An interesting February tour of your place Anne. I love the lichen! We are longing for the cooler days of autumn and hopefully some rain, the summer seems to have gone on forever! I wish I could visit you and your apple trees…I am currently trying to finding an apple orchard to use as a backdrop for some autumn food photos.
Hope you get your rain soon. Although I moan sometimes about the wet, I couldn’t imagine living in a hot, dry climate.
I wish you were close enough to just pop over for a photo shoot. One day maybe,
Some lovely reflective pictures Anne.I like the idea of the gate shadow as a pattern for a parterre, will that be your next garden project?
There have been a few bright days, as your lovely photos have shown but the gloom and wet are getting to me too! Our pond has filled up at last and so have the ditches so it is now time for a little dry weather. I like your reflections very much, Anne.
Thank goodness for bright sunny days in February!
Yes, I agree, February is hard. But there are pleasures – exactly those you’ve captured so beautifully. The absence of interest makes one look harder, and there are interesting shapes and patterns that we just don’t notice the rest of the year. We’ve started to see big swathes of aconites and snowdrops in north Northumberland, and somebody commented on one of my IG pics that these are all the more beautiful because we’ve had grey and brown for so long …
One of the joys of our seasons is that places can look so different at various times of the year. Snowdrops and aconites are so welcome after the dreary winter.
Your February is not dull! What a super collection of images Anne .. wonderful shadows and reflections. Our Feb has been dampish but much needed rain. Yesterday was glorious … That lichen is so vibrant 🙂