An unfamiliar spring

We're rarely here in May, so it has been a pleasure to see the countryside as it now is.  There were lots of cowslips at the roadside as we drove south, but there usually are for our customary Easter trip.  This time we arrived to find the vines in leaf (we normally arrive to find them bare, and leave just as they are starting to sprout tiny shoots of vivid lime green).  It's only when you leave the motorway that you see an unfamiliar landscape.  Although the authorities have started mowing the grass verges, many are resplendent with poppies, euphorbia, a creamy yellow flower a bit like a dandelion, harebells and wild oats and barley.  Here and there, the wild fennel is starting into growth, and up on the hill where we were too late for the dwarf daffodils and iris, the ciste cotonneux (cistus albidus) is blooming fit to bust.  Acacias are in full bloom, and some of the motorways were lined for short stretches with what may have been lilac, but we were not of a mind to hang around to confirm the fact.  Many roses hereabouts are in full bloom, but the wisterias are largely now in full leaf, the flowers having gone over.  The vegetation of the immediate locality is unfortunately also luxuriant, so we have a major weeding task on our hands.  The oleanders are growing like weeds too, and will need a bit of taking in hand.

The air is pretty clear (though we are expecting a lot of rain over the coming week), so views are impressive.  On the road from the market town, one can see a long chain of snow-clad Pyrenees.  We're restraining ourselves, however - although some of our familiar roads in the hills would offer gorgeous views, we're drawing breath for a couple of days before we think of going further than the supermarket. 

We have finally re-assembled a much travelled IKEA Poäng armchair that has been rattling about in the boot since our aborted trip south at Easter.  I bought it in the Spreitenbach IKEA soon after I arrived in Zürich in 1997, and enjoyed its twangy leathery comfort for my couple of years in Dübendorf.  It came south in 1999, and more recently we took it back to England, where it served as a comfortable perch in the sitootery.  Now that we have an armchair that matches the sofas, plus an inside-outside table and chairs, said sitootery is getting a touch crowded, so the good old Poäng has been on its travels again, and is now installed once more by the fireside here in what Dotty describes as Lahgrahsse.