Joys of Spring

As soon as she saw him
With a twig or two
To make the scruffy, scrappy nest
Ms. Dove delivered
As one does
A beautiful white egg
Hanging on for dear life
In the Eucalyptus
And I wonder how it stays there
With such an insubstantial nest
But I guess
As one does
That Ms. Dove knows best.

JessM - Blackthorn blooming and Mr. Toad being rampant certainly sounds as if Spring is finally here. Hurrah!

Gardening different in France, Bootairnoot? Apart from the fact that you can buy baby leek plants and not runner beans it seems more or less the same to me? Maybe because we are in Normandy which is pretty much like England really.

That would be it, Mamie. We're deep S.W. - Very south of the Loire, where the weather changes

I LOVE BLACKTHORN too! Beautiful flowers. Lovely fruit (in gin). It doesn't grow around here. Too wet, perhaps? But my Oxfordshire allotment was surrounded by a hedge of blackthorn and elder. Wehad sloegin and elderbery wineeveryyear!

Obviously made my keyboard drunk too!

Ah, it is probably the most common hedgerow bush around here.

Gosh!

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mmm - collectors eh? [shrug emoticon]

Flock of 10 goldfinches in the garden at the moment and sloe gin in the cupboard.

Can't believe it! It's February and I've just sat outside in a shirtsleeved T for 1/2 hour reading!

I think the sun must be out down there jeni it is mild here, and contemplating a little session with the secateurs, but we are under thick grey cloud. St David's day tomorrow!

Not a cloud in the sky! must find a daffies for tomorrow. I don't have any leeks!

Hope you get some for St. David's day, Jess.

Ms. Dove does NOT know best - nest abandoned with two eggs.
I wonder why?

Too early!

Oh dear, I think a barn owl has taken up residence in a niche in the house wall again. A spring of snuffling, snoring, squawking and screeching lies ahead...

I love barn owls Mamie - except they will SPLAT over everything!

You lucky thing! I haven't even got frogspawn! My cleaner has frogspawn! Why haven't I?

Flighty bunch doves

Wood pigeons are making whoopee on one of my trees! Quite embarrassing - I may have to avert my eyes.

There's some wood pigeon raunchiness going on in the wood behind my house, too!

My wood pigeons try to have intercourse on topof the telegraph pole and occasionally the actual wires! Chinese ballet they are not

Ooh, that sounds a bit ouchie to me. Pleased I'm not a wood pigeon.

This morning, for the first time this year,
The early sun below the clouds
Shone into my north-east facing bedroom.
Definitely spring!
Yesterday, in a bid to persuade someone
To leave some puddles alone –
Not try to drain them down our lane
(and wash away hard core while they're at it) –
Because they contain frogspawn.
I think... I hope... she has understood
"Let puddles live! They not only are doing no harm,
But are actually, in this case, life-enhancing."
At least, some opportunist frogs think so,
And so do I.

The pussy willow is out. Saw a lovely tree of it on way to the shops. I love pussy willow. Makes me think of Easter.

And the has just started to come out through the mist. (Was a bit chilly on bike

bagitha - at what stage are the frogspawn? I don't have any puddles/ponds around here so will have to enjoy them virtually!