The story of A Daffodil; a Poem; Happy un-Birthday Wishes; and a Handmade Card . . .

Back in January of this year, we had a smattering of snow here where I live in the South of England.  Now snow in January isn’t anything unusual – for we are in the winter months and winter can bring forth all sorts of weather – snow being one of them.

But what made the snow stand out for me was that I had one lone little Daffodil blooming in my garden.

It came to my notice in December last year. It grew taller and taller, over Christmas and into the New Year.  All alone, it stood up against winter rains, winter colds, winter winds and … even the cold smattering of snow could not rob this darling little thing which seemed to take on a personality by the time the snow came.  I’d began to actually talk to it, telling it that it was too soon for it to be poking its head out of its warm little bed.  I begged it not to unwrap its beautiful petals just yet, for it was far too cold. And then, determined to do its own thing, it unfurled and bloomed.   I talked to it daily, telling it how beautiful it was and how thankful I was for it to be there to greet me each day.  Even through the smattering of January snow it continued to be determined to stay with me.

Then the really bad winds came.  Those winds blew and blew, and the little brave daffodil fought on.  The wind was relentless and blew stronger and stronger – seemingly determined to take out the proud daffodil like some vile hit man who’d been hired to put an end to the joy of the Daffodil.  And it did.

The strong, violent wind blew the Daffodil over, and in doing so, broke the stem.  I felt dreadfully sad and had a moment of truly disliking winter winds with a passion.

It was during January that I shared the little Daffodil with a fellow blogger who I love to pieces.  Rabbit, of RabbitPatchDiary.com.  Rabbit posted a blog post on the 14th of January 2018, called  ‘To Love the Winter, Too’ – which was a total joy to read.  I commented on the post and within that comment I told her about the little Daffodil in my garden, saying:-

. . .  “. . .  it’s still Winter here in the United Kingdom, and yet …. there is a daffodil blooming in my front garden.  It grew and grew over Christmas, and a couple of days ago it burst into a great big smile.

I’ve explained gently to it that it’s a little early, and that the Sun hasn’t yet warmed up enough to shine the heat upon it and make it feel the rays of wonderment that I know it would normally enjoy. I just hope that it understood and is willing to hang around a little, until the sun does come out with some beautiful sun rays, just for this happy little daffodil.” . . . 

And this ↑ comment inspired Rabbit to compose the most beautiful poem which she blogged about, titling the post  ‘The Brave Little Daffodil’.  When I read the poem it made me choke back tears – for I knew that the Brave Little Daffodil in the poem was in fact my very own little Daffodil.

In a comment I told Rabbit that I would post a photograph of my Daffodil on my blog.  I’d taken a photograph of the Daffodil on the 16th of January and although the surroundings of the beautiful flower were dreary, dull, wet, and not terribly inspiring,  the appearance of the Daffodil was enough to bring joy to my heart.   I tried to make a post with the photo, but for some reason I just couldn’t make the words of my post show the wonderful feelings that this spark of wonderment had given me.  I failed totally.  So put it to one side, telling myself that perhaps I should just email the photo to Rabbit.

However, I now know why I wasn’t inspired to make that blog post at the time…  for something was happening which I needed to wait for.  Time had to pass in order for a whole triangle of love and inspiration to come into force,  and now it has.

A little while ago I realised that I’d missed a much-loved bloggers Birthday.  The blogger: Beverly of  ‘MoreInkPlease.com’ (aka LateBloomingDesigns), and hadn’t made her or sent her a card to celebrate her Birthday.  So I did what any decent friend would do …  I made her a Happy Unbirthday Card and posted it to her.  Late for her Birthday, but on time for her Un-Birthday!

But what I didn’t know what that Beverly (of More Ink Please) was working on her own creation(s) which had been inspired by the Daffodil and the incredible poem which Rabbit (of Rabbit Patch Diaries) had written.

Beverly received her UnBirthday Card, and then confided in me that she was making something for me and a ‘something’ for someone else, so to expect something through the post soon.  (My excitement at this news is something I won’t share as I get so stupidly excited about Happy Mail that you’d think I was a child on Christmas Eve).

True to her word, a couple of weeks or so later, I received a package from Beverly, and upon opening it I found this incredible handmade card  . . .

. . . and was instantly touched deeply by the hard work which had gone into making those incredible Daffodils on the front of the card.

Cards are always beautiful things to receive, but a handmade card means the world to me.  Gifts are lovely – but for someone to ‘donate’ their time to you by making something for you is absolutely priceless to me, and because I feel like this I was instantly choked with emotion and gratitude that Beverly should go to SO much trouble.  But then …. I opened the card …. out popped a letter which Beverly had hand written to me, and … inside the card itself …  was the original poem which Rabbit had written in honour of my Winter Daffodil.

In the letter, Beverly confided that she’d made two of these cards, similar to each other but not the exact same, and that she’d sent the twin card to ….  Rabbit [of RabbitPatchDiary.com] – the writer of the poem!

This combination of two incredibly beautiful hearts joined together in one place and inspired by one lone little daffodil made the tears spill over my lashes and onto my cheeks.

As usual Mr. Cobs laughed at me and my tender heart and handed me the box of tissues.  I could barely speak to tell him why I was crying, I was so moved.

Let me share the poem which Rabbit wrote about my daffodil, with you :-

Very far away from me,

across the wild and open sea,

A brave little daffodil blooms,- I know,

because a fairy told me so.

He asked the rose to come along-

and the coral bells to sing their song-

But only the brave little daffodil.

had the courage and the will.

And so one cold and dreary day,

when springtime seemed so far away,

The fairy spied his gift of gold-

blooming, in the world so cold-

and so she did , what we all should-

she shared, when she found something good.

written by Rabbit of Rabbitpatchdiaries.com

. . .  and that was the poem that Beverly had collected up from Rabbits blog post, printed out and fixed into the inside of the amazing card which Bev had made for me.

Finally I now I know why I hadn’t been able to post the photograph of the little Winter January Daffodil when I originally took the photograph back on the 16th of January this year.  ‘Time’ was waiting for the right moment for that Daffodil to bring about somethings which would require the Daffodil to be shared, so that it’s full and complete story could be told as ‘one’ and everything arrive together in one place.  Right here.  Right now.

So here, for the first time, is that one, lone little Daffodil, on a dreary Winter January day, stood all by itself in wet chipped bark and with little colour from anything else (except some small, evergreen conifer trees) to keep her company.

‘Time’ made it so that I couldn’t find the correct words in order to share the Daffodil back in January.  And now, now that the sides of this wonderful triangle which was being made have come together, the time is right and I can share it.

I’m so sorry Rabbit that you’ve had these weeks of waiting for a photo to appear.  I knew that it would happen, I just didn’t know when, or how, or why it was being made so difficult.  But now I do.  ‘Time’ was making me wait for everything to come together.  And, finally, now it has. 

Thank you all for coming and letting me share these wonderful people with you.  I’m so blessed to have them in my life.  If you haven’t met Rabbit or Beverly before … have a little look around their blogs.  You might just fall in love with them too!

Hoping your Thursday is behaving itself for you, and that your day goes smoothly, gently and uncomplicated as can be.  May joy be the undercurrent and contentment be the result.

Much love to you ~