Is Spring finally here?

All the signs would suggest so. The first daffodil has come into flower in the garden, buds on the trees are starting to break, frogspawn has appeared in the pond and the sun is shining. I had a lovely walk across the fields with Barney this afternoon (thankfully I did not have to extract a semi-disembowelled rabbit from his jaws today) and watched as five buzzards soared around overhead. I wish I had had my camera with me. Back in the garden the birds were singing and I caught this robin chirping away in the trees.

A couple more photos....

.... and a few more here.

In the garden....

...I found...

...one great-spotted woodpecker hanging on the nuts...

.....one baby frog sitting on a lily pad....

....one toad lazing in the pond.....

....a lily flower....

....and a giant caterpillar crawling on the drive.

I just wish I'd had my camera with me when the thrush was smashing snails and feeding them to her young.

The sun has got his hat on

Good weekend? I decided that I would finally get round to painting my bathroom yesterday....on the hottest day of the year so far. I must be mad. I painted the walls and the ceiling and then gave up having nearly expired from heat exhaustion. Just the glossing left to do now...that will have to wait for my next weekend off.

I've been out in the garden today. It's still a little hot for me but not quite as oppressive as the last two days. It's been nice just being able to mooch around and relax, it's been a hectic couple of weeks and this week is going to be equally busy (except for Wednesday when I am skiving off work to go for some retail therapy with my mum and auntie, who is visiting for the week).

Next Sunday is the day of my BIG abseil. I'm more anxious about ensuring the event runs smoothly than I am about the actual abseil, though I am sure that on the day I will be a little more worried! I have a team of around 34 people taking part so I am hopeful that we should raise a significant amount of money. You can read more about the event in my previous post here and I will make sure some photos (and possibly video footage) appear next week. Wish me luck!

For now I shall leave you with some pictures of flowers (and a bumble bee!) from the garden.

My new 'neigh'-bours

I have just been for a walk round the garden and came face to face with some horses peering over the hedge at me! For as long as I can remember there has been nothing in the field behind the garden so it came as something of a surprise. I'm not a mad fan of horses but it has been quite nice standing watching them. I like the small white ones best.

Mmm, chocolate

Happy Easter. Hope you are all enjoying the weekend and today's beautiful sunshine. Has the Easter bunny been? It's certainly been to my house- amongst other goodies, I have received the largest bag of Cadbury's Mini Eggs that I have ever seen! I feel that by the end of the day I shall be feeling very sick, very fat and possibly rather hyperactive, having not eaten any chocolate, cakes or biscuits for the entirity of Lent. Why I deprive myself for six weeks I have no idea, but I can say that it is worth it because chocolate on Easter Sunday tastes so much nicer!

The birds in my garden seem to have entered into the Easter spirit too and have created their own egg hunt...I found this one a short while ago.


...I think it may have been a little confused as to exactly what constitutes a nest.

Summer's here!

I've been sitting out in the garden reading my book. I am not a lover of the sun, but it is beautiful today- about time. We're having a barbecue later, which is usually a sure fire way of ensuring it rains!

I'm reading Haruki Murakami's 'Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'- it's very good, if a little bizarre, but then his books are often a little surreal. I've been a fan since reading 'Norwegian Wood'.

Thought I'd add a couple of photos of the garden!