Midwinter Spring.

Time for a little historical costuming. This is a complete oufit by Mirja Mills. The pleated cap is finely shaped and the fur detail suits this season. There was fog this morning, a burst of sunshine at midday, mists distancing the fields again at dusk.
The Raven familiar is a Shenandoah original, comfortably at home here on the gatepost of my neighbour's Four Winds Petite Tudor Cottage. The aquilegia flowers, I call Granny's Bonnets. Planning the scene prompted me to look again at Peter Whelan's play about Susanna Shakespeare, The Herbal Bed:


'He was a liar, too. Must have lied to my mother every time he came home. Yet when he was with us ... we were so warm! Well ... leave coldness to the stars. Give us life ...'