Simon Armitage savours spring ‘ecstasy and melancholy’ on World Poetry Day

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Admin

Poet laureate celebrates a plum tree in poem commissioned by the National Trust for its blossom campaign

The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has written a new poem which pays homage to spring, in celebration of World Poetry Day.

Plum Tree Among the Skyscrapers is the first in a collection of poems inspired by blossom and commissioned by the National Trust. Its publication marks the beginning of the Trust’s annual blossom campaign, in which the charity will vow to bring blossom back to landscapes across the UK by planting 20m trees by 2030 to help tackle both the climate and nature crises.

UK weather: snow and frost forecast as March temperatures set to fall

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Admin

Met Office says start of spring will be colder than usual, after provisionally driest February in 30 years

March may be the first month of meteorological spring but switching the woolly coat for a lighter jacket may have to be put on hold. Forecasters have said temperatures are likely to be slightly colder than usual this year in the UK.

As February drew to an end, the Met Office said parts of the country had increased chances of snow, frost and fog in the coming weeks. The odds of wintry showers were particularly short in the first week of March, it said, with coastal areas in the northern and eastern areas of the UK likely to feel it first, before the cold weather moves southwards.

David Hockney on joy, longing and spring light: ‘I’m teaching the French how to paint Normandy!’

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Admin

While enjoying an idyllic lockdown in France, the 83-year-old artist has created perhaps his most important exhibition ever – offering hope to an injured world

‘I think it looks terrific,” says David Hockney. “It’s all on one theme, isn’t it? And there’s not many exhibitions like that, really, a show all about the spring.” The 83-year-old artist is taking a look around his new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London for the first time. He seems happy with it – and rightly so, for it is hypnotic and ravishing. But while I am getting a sneak preview in person, Hockney is here only virtually, his face appearing on two screens, one a giant TV, the other a small laptop.

He is at home, at what he calls his “seven dwarves house” in Normandy, wearing a red, black and white check jacket, a checkerboard tie, a blue-green pullover and round, gold-framed glasses. His kaleidoscopic choice of clothing, challenging the very limits of the video call’s bandwidth, is as vibrant and beguiling as the canvases hanging around us. Hockney has not just painted spring; he has come dressed as it.

Does your pantry need a spring clean?

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Admin

Time for a clearout: use up leftover fridge-lurkers, pulses and grains with recipes you haven’t tried before

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

What’s the secret to clearing out your food cupboards and getting inspired about cooking again?
Ben, Exeter

With spring here – picnics! People! Pubs! – it’s time to blow away the cobwebs of the past 12 months and start afresh. And the best way to give those cupboards a clearout is, of course, with a handful of recipes.