The Week That’s Been

Everything in our garden was budding and flowering recklessly, shrubs, plants and grasses alike. This even when the night were freezing but the days were warm to a pleasant 15-20C which definitely encouraged rapid growth. The magnolia tree was blooming beautifully and check out these fantastic yellows of the Forsythia, Brooms and Cytisus. The daffodils are out but sadly out of 50 bulbs only 15 had bloomed!!! What was wrong with them. I could see the Lily of the Valleys and Bluebells also beginning to form little buds.

I went to check the frog spawn and they have hatched into hundreds of tadpoles. The lake was alive, full of wriggling little froglets. But when I went again, a few days later, no one was at home. The lake was clear. Where had they gone??? They must have already metamorphised into frogs or perhaps still hiding among the reeds.

“I wanted to find out whether tadpoles in warmer water grow faster than those in cold water. I have always been interested in amphibians and reptiles. The hardest part was measuring the tadpoles as they grew.”

~Nathan Clements~

I took the afternoon off on Wednesday because

“The sun is on fire
In the sky
And in its warmth
Flowers open
In the garden
And the butterfly
Flutters by"
~Stanley Cook~

We went To Brandon Marsh to see if the Spotted Crate was about but he remained elusive, to me anyway. East Marsh Hide was packed with photographers and twitchers all waiting to get a glimpse. I wasn’t too bothered because there were lots of other things that kept me occupied. The amorous Oyster Catchers, the noisy lapwings, the nesting Greylags, the dainty Little Ringed Plovers and the well-camouflaged Common Snipes were out and about. We were very excited when Babe spot a Pink-Footed Goose among the Greylags. We left when it got noisier, hotter and crowded in the hide.

We headed towards Draycote and it was a stunningly beautiful afternoon. Bright blue skies, pleasant cooling breeze and hours and hours of bright sunshine. We spotted a Yellow wagtail among lots of Pied wagtails, observed  the mating dance of the Great Crested Grebe and was glared by this Little Ringed Plover, who wasn’t pleased at seeing our lenses focused on him.

We walked towards the end of the Draycote Bank when I saw these Long tailed tits feeding from the fir trees. They were so intent on feeding that they didn’t notice me right below them. There were also plentiful of chaffinches, goldfinches, robins, dunnocks and wrens about, either feeding or singing. We also had our first sighting of the swallows skimming above the lake.

I planned to have a BBQ in the evening but by the time we reached our casa, I was too exhausted to drag Mr George Foreman out. But we still had burgers but grilled with onion rings and mushroom sauce for dinner. While Babe unloaded/edited/posted the photographs, I watched Manchester United beat Chelsea 1:0 at the first leg quarter-final of the Champions League. I guess Rooney had a point to make but I wish he just let his goals do the talking and zipped his big mouth shut, permanently.

Every morning, this was the sight that greet me before I leave our casa to work. Beautiful flowering, smiling pansies wishing me a lovely day, all light up with their faces turning to the morning sun. I have about 2 dozen of them dotted all over the garden and even brought a pot to work to bring a bit of sunshine indoors.

Talking of sunshine indoors, these amaryllis were blooming beautifully in our casa. I was very surprised when another stem was going to bloom soon. It was a long time coming.

Outside my office window, the white Cherry blossoms were flowering at their full peak. The number of people stopping to admire and take photographs was countless. And who could blame them? They were just gorgeous. Soon the winds will scatter the petals to the ground. The pink cherry blossoms will be out soon and they will be just as spectacular. It will be the cherry blossom (Sakura) festival in Japan. I hope the sight of these gorgeous blossoms will bring a bit of cheer to the people. The Japanese believed that the cherry blossom captures and defines all that is vulnerable about being human. The Sakura season gives them a timely reminder, once a year, that life is fleeting and time is precious. This is the time to take stock and evaluate what you have achieved, and what you are going to do next, on your own life path. In essence, the cherry blossom cycle was seen as a metaphor for life. A wonderful reflection during these very testing times.

Live in simple faith...
Just as this simple cherry,
Flower, fades and falls.
~ Issa~