It’s been a mild February so far, but there was a slight chill in the air earlier in the week as Mum & I took a walk to the postbox and then over to the village churchyard. At this time of year snowdrops carpet both the front and the back of the churchyard, the “dead” centre of the village.
We weren’t alone in the churchyard. A man who lives next to the churchyard was taking his dog for a walk, the birds chatted in the trees and a lone cat sat atop an old grave.
I like to look at the gravestones in churchyards and wonder what lives the inhabitants once led. Too often the graves are of youngsters. A particularly sad story must be the young brother & sister who died just two days apart (time to do some research, I think!). Many of the descendants of the churchyard’s quiet inhabitants can still be found in and around the village today. Surnames inscribed on many of the gravestones will be familiar to anyone local.
As a leftover from the numerous covid lockdowns, the church porch has become a library of books and board games. Anyone is welcome to take or leave a book or game. My niece loves to sort through the books in search of a new read and rarely goes home empty-handed.
You may remember my previous post about the snowdrops at the village church.
I didn’t grow up with snowdrops in America (Michigan in particular where I was raised), so these past 13 years in the Netherlands have been a real treat for me where I have seen them for the first time. And, yes, they’re out now here, too! What better place to find them than at the cemetery/churchyard, which is one of my favorite places to visit…especially because of gravestones like you’ve shown here. I have always felt you learn so much about a culture/community by visiting their graveyards!
Thank you for sharing such beautiful photos on your walk. I love that people leave games or books on the church porch, it’s such a lovely way to share with the community.
The snowdrops add their beauty to the churchyard, it is very pretty.
Haven’t the snowdrops been simply wonderful this year? I don’t think I’ve ever seen such profusion.
They have been wonderful. It’s always a joy to see them out.
That’s the best kind of snow I know of! I can’t grow snowdrops in my climate but some gardeners in our Pacific Northwest do. Unfortunately, they’re literally buried under a deep cover of snow from a massive storm.
The storm is even reaching down to Southern California. All we’ve had here is hail but there’s reportedly snow around the Hollywood sign at the moment.
I saw that on the news! We’ve had a very mild winter here in Mid Wales, barely a flake of snow.
What a lovely display. I always look forward to seeing the first snowdrops appear.
I love to see a churchyard with a carpet of snowdrops and this looks really pretty. I love the cat too, very much a larger version of my first Mouse who was quite small for an adult cat.
…I LOVE your snowdrops, we will have to wait to see ours. We have snow instead!
In central Maine, snowdrops are not common. Must be the cold weather. Loved seeing your pictures of them. What beauties. Fun for your niece to find a book she likes. That library was a great idea.
snowdrops litter the green grass – a lovely sight!
Snowdrops are such an early sign that Spring is coming and I love mass plantings! Thanks for bringing a bit of joy to my day.
I loved that, Nikki; smashing photos! Don’t get me started on graveyards and gravestones; I can’t help wondering about all the hopes, dreams and stories buried there. People.
We don’t have snowdrops, so I always enjoy seeing them. You have some lovely photos.
Cemeteries are fascinating places. I wonder if those children had some sort of sickness, like flu or diphtheria? How sad to die so closely together.
Such luxuriant clusters of snowdrops, Nikki! Absolutely glorious.
Snowdrops look so pretty when they cover a large area such as this. I love looking round a churchyard, those headstones tell such a story, though not enough in some cases. How sad to lose two children two days apart, I wonder what the story is there.
Beautiful photos. The gray sky was a fitting backdrop for seeing them delicately bringing life to the area and your post. I’d rather see your snowdrops than the foot of fluffy white snow we received this past week. I’m with you in feeling sad to see young children’s graves. So sad for that family to lose two children, two days apart in 1850. I can imagine that the fevers and illnesses of the times were scary.
Aren’t they beautiful! I came to the church for the WI carol service at the end of November and the lights leading up to the door lighting our way were so welcoming.
I hope you enjoyed your visit. The Christmas tree at the church gate is always a welcome sight in the lead up to Christmas too.
These are beautiful photos! The snowdrops are so pretty
“Dead centre” – I see what you did there! Your carpet of snowdrops is beautiful, and I’m with you on graveyards, I can’t keep away when I spot one. I also agree that it’s the tales of infant mortality that are the saddest. How families coped I just don’t know.
How amazing and delightful is that carpet of Snowdrops, Nikki! Thank you so much for sharing its delight and those lovely photos of the churchyard, and cat! xxx
The Church Tower looks as if it might once have been fortified, Nikki? Can you say where it is, but I understand if you prefer not
I’ve popped an email across to you.
This was such a beautiful walk. Thank you for having us join you.
Your snowdrops are beautiful. Our snowdrops are usually plentiful this time of year. Sadly, they are now all covered with SNOW. We are having incredibly crazy weather!
What a beautiful abundance of snowdrops, they are a wonderful flower aren’t they. Heralding the change in the seasons, they are so delicate and do not look like they should be able to survive in the cold.
They look beautiful. A lovely place to wander in the Spring. 🙂
Nikki – so happy that the snowdrops are left to bloom in such abundance. What a stunning sight. You captured marvelous images. Thanks so much for sharing – since we have months of winter left, it is a pleasant sight to see Spring somewhere!
I do remember your previous post about snowdrops, and they are equally beautiful this year. Lovely to see a churchyard cat as well 🙂
I love to see the carpets of common snowdrops and they have naturalised perfectly here. I wonder if they will be followed by daffodils? I like a wander around a churchyard and the older the better. Sad to see deaths of such young children but of course infant diseases were rife in those days.
I never tire of seeing the snowdrop displays and this one is once again particularly stunning, with the beautiful church as the backdrop!
We too, enjoy looking around churches and graveyards, some of the older headstones tell some quite comprehensive family stories and histories, in just a few words.
I guess that around the date on the grave you discovered, there would have been any number of contagious diseases going around, which once entrenched in a household, would take all but the strongest members.
A church door bookshop is such a good idea, a bit different to the phone box bookshops which have sprung up all over the country. I really hate having to consign a book to the recycling when someone else might still enjoy it.
Great Post! 🙂
It’s beautiful. I should visit a local National Trust to see a sea of snowdrops. Our local churchyard has some crocuses, but that’s it, no snowdrops.
A fabulous display of snowdrops.
My garden snowdrops are just emerging 🙂
These are such amazing photos! They really are a veritable carpet of Snowdrops! I love the idea of the book and game swap!