it's here

the celandines are out everywhere, this marks the proper start of Spring. And it's a lovely dry sunny day.

daring buds of April

a horse chestnut bud bursting with energy, and below, the first sign of this year's magnolia stellata emerging.

Easter Sunday

the Easter bunny hunt over, Harriet catches her breath amongst our native daffodils, and wishes everyone a Happy Easter. Meanwhile the purple toothwort is taking over the world.

hedge dogs

carefully camouflaged hedge dog watching the rabbits but easier to see than the courting couple below.

whitebells

no bluebells yet but these "whitebells" are appearing everywhere in our garden

still only almost there

and so we wait with baited breath for things to begin to grow, and some warmth in our old bones. Last year our magnolia stellata was in full bloom by now, but it is still only at the bud stage this year. My heart sank when I heard that someone is once again predicting a hot dry summer. This will be the fourth or fifth year in a row that the same prediction has been made (Spot's entire life time has been spent in the rain it would seem); apart from the fact that we have had extremely wet summers for ages now sooner or later they are bound to get it right by chance alone. Please stop predicting hot summers. And here is a cheerful thought from James Lovelock.