A taste of fluff

This red legged partridge was very amusing, he was one of a pair going from dandelion to dandelion eating all the fluffy seed heads. I could only imagine it was rather like candy floss. Originally they had been spared for the goldfinches who also adore them.

Apple blossom

I picked this branch of blossom from a huge old crab apple tree on the far boundary. When the weather turned so bad I felt it was probably happier to be on the kitchen window sill enjoying the warmth! It is certainly a lovely reminder of spring during a week when you need that.

Tulip time

My tulips look so pretty but just a few days after I took this photo we had strong winds and damaging hail storms which snapped some of them clean off, taking the whole flower head and a few inches of stalk.

50 years on!

This photograph of Hill Farm was taken exactly 50 years ago to the day. It was very kindly given to us by a neighbour and relative of the Nash's who bought the farm in 1940. It is interesting to see what is different (more than we imagined), the hedges for example aren't there and apparently the agricultural shed burned down before being replaced with the pair that we have today. Also the barns behind the farm are different and the tree to the front fell in the storm in 1987. A fascinating item for us to have.

In reduced circumstances

The poor swallow had to settle for the top of my sweet pea tripod as the highest point from which to survey his surroundings ....'I know there was a pole somewhere round here but I remembered it being taller ......'

Doveridge

Our nearest neighbouring village is Doveridge and looking out from the kitchen window this morning the spire of St Cuthbert's stands dark against the brighter fields beyond. The sun is lighting small areas at a time like a stage set, sadly the black clouds bear the promise of more rain.

More hedging

I walk up the lane to buy some eggs and end up having to come back home and get the car so I can collect some hedging! A neighbour who planted a hedge when we put ours in, still has some of it sitting in pots and very kindly donated it to us. Once it stops raining and blowing a gale I will have to decide where to put it. We've a couple of possible areas and it will just depend which is easier to dig!

Cow parsley

We only buy a paper on Saturday and today as I look through the gardening section I find Sarah Raven entreating us to pick some cow parsley as it is the quintessentially English flower of May. I follow her lead and display my stems on the kitchen window sill in a lime green glass vase.

33 years on!

I got Joe to take this photograph of us, dressed smartly for once, as we headed out for an anniversary evening meal in nearby Alton. The food at the Royal Oak can certainly be recommended and it was a treat to go out.

The first of May

We celebrated our wedding anniversary in non traditional style attending the annual Darley Moor sale of agricultural equipment and artefacts. One of the more impressive exhibits is shown in the centre of my photo: it's a bird table atop a ten foot tall piece of drainage pipe, as the auctioneer commented 'a bird table for emus'! It didn't sell! More prosaically we purchased some acro props!