Life, lately: spring sunsets and scarlet fields

The light lingers in the sky these days and the sunsets are so beautiful that they take my breath away. There's a stillness in the world at this time. A silence that is only broken by the cries of a few seagulls that float our way, riding the thermals effortlessly. The old fishermen used to say that seagulls fly inland when bad weather is approaching. These days, they seem to fly inland all the time, whenever the fancy takes them. I love to watch them, high up in the sky, so at peace, so far away from human turmoil. I  often wonder what they see, whether they even notice us. Or whether they're looking out for a tasty lizard or gecko to eat. I relish these moments of peace before the blue turns to indigo, the seagulls disappear and the bats come out of their hideouts.
Fiery Spring sunset - Sincerely Loree



While the human world took a step back these past 8 weeks and sheltered indoors, abandoning everything it took for granted, nature carried on relentlessly. The fresh, green beauty of early spring is fast giving way to a hundred shades of gold and the days are an endless succession of warm and warmer. This is the last hurrah. While things are easing up on the COVID front and we are slowly allowed to leave our homes and mingle again - with masks and at a safe distance - nature will slow down as it prepares for a long, hot, rainless summer.

Were it not for the changes around us that are so obvious, I would be prepared to swear that it's still March. My brain is still stuck in some frozen time capsule before this whole panic started and it hasn't moved on. I almost grab a coat whenever I need to leave the house because, it can't possibly be May can it?  But the walks we occasionally take in isolated pockets of our countryside confirm that much has changed. When we went into isolation, the valleys were green. Now they are mostly golden. The wheat has been harvested and the hay baled and I delight in my bucolic surroundings and wonder whether I will ever be ready to join the fast-paced rat race again.
Fiery Spring sunset - Sincerely Loree

Remembering Easter
The downside to our isolation is that there's not much that I've been up to lately. Easter (which seems like weeks and weeks ago) was a quiet affair. The three of us stayed home (how's that for stating the obvious?) and I cooked my first Easter lunch in years (since we're usually invited to my parents'). It was a simple meal. I made sage and olive oil flatbread, roast beef, garlic parmesan roasted broccoli and some store-bought potatoes au gratin with porcini mushrooms. For dessert we had individual gooey lemon souffle' pudding cakes which sounds enormously complicated but are really very easy to make.

Scarlet fields at Laferla Cross, Malta - Sincerely Loree

Scarlet fields at Laferla Cross
A couple of Sundays ago we went for a drive to a rather out-of-the-way-place known as Laferla Cross. The moment we got out of the car we were greeted by carpets of scarlet clover. They were really pretty and acted as a perfect foil to the cross on its plinth and the 17th century chapel that is located just metres away. 

Scarlet fields at Laferla Cross, Malta - Sincerely Loree

As we walked closer, I was disappointed to see that it's no longer possible to walk right up to the higher ground on which the cross is situated.  It has been barricaded off, probably because the chapel has been allowed to fall into disrepair and they don't want anybody getting hurt. It's a shame that we find it so hard to look after our heritage properly.
Scarlet fields at Laferla Cross, Malta - Sincerely Loree

A little bit of history: the first cross on this site was erected in 1903 but the current replica was erected in 1963. The chapel of the Annunciation dates to 1857. It replaces an earlier structure that was built in 1420 but suffered intensive damages.
Chapel of the Annunciation, Laferla Cross, Malta - Sincerely Loree

I feel like these 'Life, lately' posts are starting to get a bit repetitive but things are looking up on the COVID front. So I'll keep my fingers crossed and hopefully, next month, I will have some more interesting things to write about -  although I am starting to wonder whether I will happily mingle with strangers ever again. I think there will always be that little bit of fear, at least for the first few weeks. Is anybody else thinking the same thing or am I just paranoid?


7 comments

  1. This is a lovely post Loree. I feel the same way as you. Sometimes it seems like life will never be normal again. I guess we just pray that one of the vaccine trials works and by the September we have a vaccine. Loved your beautiful photos! Hang in there ! That is all we can do.

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  2. Beautiful photos.
    I'm confident seagulls can see the tiniest french fry from great heights.
    Mingling again is very not going to do that feeling. I feel bad about it, but not so bad I'd want to hug anyone.

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  3. Loree your photos as always are just gorgeous. I know what you mean about it being May and still feeling stuck in March. Yes much has changed but hoping that with summer things will begin to look up. Take care friend. Hope you had a lovely mother's day. Hugs!

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  4. I love the carpet of scarlet clover. It's so beautiful out there. Great photos and post.

    I can't comment on the books. Although I've read Night (Elie Wiesel) a long time ago. I haven't been reading a lot. In fact, I haven't been reading at all. I prefer to go out on walks these days as it gets me out of the house. I walk early morning and evenings. It really takes the stress off from me.

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  5. I TOO AM FEELING A BIT DOWN AND OUT!
    BUT IT SHALL PASS.................
    YOUR PHOTOS!
    WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THEM?
    A BOOK ON MALTA?TABLETOP BOOK?
    THESE NEED TO BE SEEN..............
    DID JIM get in touch with you about BLOGGER?
    XX

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  6. Loree this was a treat. Your writing transports me! The photos are also lovely. Isn't it funny that we almost missed spring? Your weather sounds like ours.. Getting hot already. I am feeling exactly the same. I am excited to possibly get out with masks and limits and then scared too. I think when we get back, to the way things were before, we will be hesitant to do so much and move freely in the world the way we once did. It's sad. I wonder about travel too. Who will want Americans coming to visit when we are a mess and have haphazard rules and plans with the virus? I sure wouldn't want us there until we get a national mandate and plan. We are a disaster now. Take care and keep your posts up. They aren't repetitive, and a lovely refuge!! xo

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  7. Thank you for this nice virtual walk through a wonderful landscape ! Next week we are also allowed to go a little further then our city !

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