Sunday 26 February 2017

Recipe for Blue

Dear Reader,







                                                                                             Moths

                                                                 


Have you been visited by an army of moths this winter?  I haven't but my daughter has, and they have chomped their way through cashmere jerseys, fine wool suits, bedspreads, and much of the carpet.  She told me that moths don't seem to like cheap materials, and that they much prefer to munch on anything precious and expensive.  She has now fumigated the house, and put the jerseys into the deep freeze, where they have to stay for a week or two, presumably to kill the eggs.  And although we humans find moths infuriating (or at least I do) they are food for a wide variety of wildlife, including other creatures like spiders, frogs, toads, lizards, shrews, hedgehogs, and birds.  In fact, some of Britain's favourite garden birds rely on caterpillers to rear their nestlings, with blue tit chicks alone needing an estimated 35 billion a year!  Moths are a major part of our biodiversity and play vital roles in the ecosystem.  So remember, when you are cursing the moths, that our friends in the garden and undergrowth love and need them, would be hungry and find life difficult without them.

                                                                           *



Recipe for Blue

Take blue from the mountain

and dye my bones,

crush lapis lazuli,

mix it in my hair.

Plunge my heart in forget-me-nots,

soak my maidenhead in blueberry juice,

add a pinch of larkspur.

Wrap me in the Blessed Virgin's Dress,

shake over star sapphires,

fold in the clouds,

and bake slow.
                                                                           *


With best wishes, Patricia                                                                            

1 comment:

  1. Blue is my favourite colour of course - you knew! Xxx

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