Wonderland

Dunes stretch like a Henry Moore sculpture. The sky is a bright brilliant blue. It's a dream, an otherworldly oasis. A place we didn't think could exist. As the sun dips on Santo Amaro, you dive and are set free from earth. And then beside us, a lapwing. Grey and white sentinel, poised in these shallows. Each of you
in a new element.

Yellow and white diamond, Paraiba tourmaline, tsavorite, spectrolite and onyx ring set in platinum and yellow gold

In the market the flowergirl’s calling, her baskets all brim-full with gifts. White lilies of the valley with spring bells. Cheddar pinks, warm-perfumed as clove. Her wildflowers sing with their sweetness. She brings them to grace sunlit spaces. Flowers tied on a smooth table, trimmed and set neat in glass bowls.

Yellow beryl, yellow sapphire and diamond ring set in platinum and yellow gold

The fruits in the grove were still ripening, bright yellows nesting in green. We'd seen this colour on ceramics and on Emperor's gowns behind glass. Scoring their skin with our fingernails, sweet juice-filled segments set free. Sisters of citron and pomelo, unexpectedly heavy in the palms of our hands.

Oval cut green tourmaline, mandarin garnet and diamond ring set in platinum and yellow gold with enamel detail

Join me this spring in Okayama. Walk with me and welcome the blossom. Start again, beneath garlands of white. Or come in winter — we’ll look at the plum trees. Or in summer, when purple iris appear. We’ll hold hands beneath the tall cloud trees. Watch kimono-dressed women plant rice. Or maybe you’ll visit in autumn —  see the maples cast millions of reds.

An Ashoka cut diamond of over five carats and further white oval, marquise and brilliant cut diamonds set in platinum

‘A floret is the epitome of a flower’, wrote the botanist Nehemiah Grew. And the dandelion’s flowerets are particular,  telling time with their wing-seeded tufts. We met her that Easter on meadows and banksides. Her bright flowerhead struggled sunward, half lolling on a frail milk-green stalk. You told me her name came from ‘lion’s tooth’. You said she was an outcast, although loved by bees. We used her to work out the hour. It was true (but not the whole truth), returning feverish home after dusk.

Multi-coloured diamond and green tourmaline ring set in yellow gold with a very light green central diamond of over two carats

Even in late spring, there’s a risk of cold weather. That year we’d been fearful of frost. We’d chosen our cultivars carefully. Delayed pruning to pare back the risk. In an hour we’d lit all the bougies — we burned paraffin, leftover stems. The hard work was all certainly worth it. The vintage was one of our best.

Pink tourmaline, grey star sapphire and diamond rings set in platinum