scant leaves

'There was not a breath of wind, and under the glowing white sky tinged with pink from the horizon which seemed to fume with the warning of frost, the scant leaves were hanging motionless from the lime trees. The waiters who had to serve the tables outside the cafe were wearing their overcoats over their long aprons. It was the first sting of autumn.' penelope fitzgerald the beginning of spring

autumn

Somehow 'the first sting of autumn' makes it seem horrible when in fact it's sometimes more like the 'first glory of autumn.' 

Dowdy

The cold and wet weather was really making me feel dowdy. Fed up with my winter clothes, itching to wear warmer weather clothes but knowing I'd have been cold.

''Miss Kinsman was dowdy, another of the words that couldn't be translated in to Russian, because there was no way of suggesting a dismal unfashionableness which was not intentional, not slovenly, not disreputable, but simply Miss Kinsman's way of looking herself .'Penelope Fitzgerald the begining of spring

pink

Roll on summer and summer clothes... But I know come September I'll be looking forward to snuggling in autumnal layers.

The voice of water

I've just finished reading Penelope Fitzgerald's The beginning of spring. As hoped there was a spring quote.

"the first sign of spring that couldn't be mistaken had been a protesting voice, the voice of water, when the ice melted under the covered wooden footpath... the water freed itself by its own effort, and once it had begun to run in a chattering stream, the whole balance of the year tilted over. At the sound of it his heart used to leap. His bicycle came out of the shed... In a few weeks the almond trees would be in flower..." Penelope Fitzgerald The beginning of spring

stream

Do you have a favourite spring time book?