Butterflies and Spring Flowers

 The warmer weather has brought butterflies to the garden.  

The only one I couldn't seem to photograph was a Brimstone.  They just never stop flitting around.

 

There are Spring flowers everywhere now.  Bright golden daffodils along the verges, in gardens and on street corners.  Shops are full of both daffodils and tulips ready for Mothering Sunday this weekend.  

 

 

When we had coffee in Waitrose one morning there were tulips decorating the tables.

 

Later in the week I bought a bunch of many colours for home. 

 

On our walk this morning there were Lesser Celandines everywhere.

Also signs of Sorrel, Dog's Mercury, Wood Avens and Wild Garlic.

 

In the garden the Fritilary (Fritilaria Uva Vulpis)we purchased recently has flowered. I don't know if the flowers will open out any more.  It will be interesting to see.

 

It's quite beautiful.  Also flowering are...

Grape Hyacinth or Muscari 

Daffodils

Lungwort or Pulmonaria

 

and in the pond Marsh Marigolds.

 

There are also the first signs of

 

Wood Anemone from the plugs we bought last Autumn.

and the Wild Garlic or Ramsons which grows along the hedge at the top of the garden.

 

All for now.  Take care.

 

 

A Short Walk

It was such a lovely, sunny morning and my leg felt easier than it has done for the past couple of weeks so we took a gentle stroll around The Brampton.

The museum closes on Mondays so we didn't get to see the local art exhibition inside.

 The sun was shining brightly and it felt quite warm.

Vera Brittain was still on her seat reading her letter from the trenches.

Spring flowers were blooming along the paths and across the grass.

We saw the first small tortoiseshell butterfly of the year.  A yellow Brimstone was the first butterfly in our garden, spotted over the weekend.

 

It was good to be out and about for a short while.

I hope to catch up with all your blogs again soon.  It may take some time as sitting for any length of time at the computer is uncomfortable.

I've just realised that I've been blogging for seventeen years.  I started this blog on 14th March 2005.  Where did all that time go?

On Friday

 A miscellany of things for Friday.

1.  Growing in both garden and conservatory.   

Outside in the little Spring flower 'garden' under the kitchen window the Snowdrops, Grape Hyacinths and Primroses are in flower.  The Winter Aconites aren't.  We had a plant about three years ago but last year it didn't appear so late last year we bought bulbs and planted them.  They were protected by the old oven shelf you see to the left of the photo with all the tent pegs which held it down and still the squirrels managed to get to the bulbs.  We noticed one morning that the shelf had been moved and that the squirrels or perhaps just one of them had somehow got underneath.  You have to admire their ingenuity and dexterity but as you can imagine I'm quite miffed about it.   I just hope they enjoyed munching on them.  You can see one little leaf which is perhaps from the original plant just showing through.

In the conservatory there are little green shoots, Tomatoes, Radishes, Chard and Cress.  

2.  Year of the Tiger

We visited Biddulph Grange Gardens on Monday and found in the Chinese Garden the lovely red lanterns hanging from the trees.  It's the year of the Tiger and I was born in a Tiger year.

We had the place to ourselves for ages.  Obviously a  Monday morning in February is a quiet time to visit.  The weather was okay but by the time we left there was damp and drizzle in the air.

3.  Fossils in Mr Bateman's Geology Gallery at Biddulph Grange.

I just love these - the shapes, the textures, the sheer age of them.  A great deal of work has been done over the last few years to conserve and/or replace many of the fossils in the wall of the long gallery.  I know I've blogged about this space before but I can't find the links to those posts at the moment.  If I find them I'll add them here.

4.  Water birds at Westport Lake.

On the main lake there were Geese, Swans, Black Headed gulls, Coots and Moorhens.

Along the paths in the wooded area by the stream, where we always go to see if we can spot a Kingfisher, there were loads of Scarlet Elf Cups.  Elves lead me on to....

5. Fairies - there are three new ones at Trentham Gardens.  They were installed earlier this week and are called 'The Fledglings.'  When the sun came out this morning we decided that, as a wet weekend has been forecast, another walk would be just the thing. 

The new fairies were a bonus spotted right at the end of our walk.

All for now.  Take Care. 

A Snowdrop Walk

Yesterday we decided to drive the few miles from here to Ashbourne and then just that little bit further to Hopton Hall in the village of Carsington.

It was a little early as the snowdrops were just in bud and were exepected to be at their best next week but it was a joy to see them. So lovely to walk along the trail and into the walled garden too.  There seemed to be only us there plus one other couple with whom we stopped for a chat along the way.  They were visiting from the South West. 

 It was so good to be out in the fresh air.  I'll let the photos take over.

 

 

 

We sat with a warm drink from the outside catering area.  Overlooking the Ha Ha and the row of trees above.  The air was cold and dry and all was peaceful.

I'm so glad we made the effort to visit.

 

 

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch

We sat down on Friday lunch time and decided to start counting whilst eating our sandwiches.  Earlier, through the kichen window, I'd seen four magpies having a bit of a tussle.  Three of them had the fourth backed up against a shrub with flapping wings. open beak and its claws in the air it looked quite distressed.  It eventually got away from them and flew off.  The other three stalked across the lawn as if to say 'job welll done'.

It was the appearance of three Long Tailed Tits on one of the fat ball feeders that decided us to start the count.

Paul's photo

I'm really glad we did the count on the first day as the wind yesterday kept many birds away from the feeders. 

My Photo

In the hour we counted nine Sparrows. one Robin, five Chaffinches, three Long Tailed tits, one Blue Tit, one  Dunnock, three Wood Pigeons, two Collard Doves, six Goldfinches, three Bullfinches and three Blackbirds.

 Where were all the Goldfinches? We usually have at least fifteen of them gathered around the feeders and earlier this month we had eight and sometimes ten Collard Doves pecking around  under the feeders especially when the Goldfinches were feeding and dropping seed to the floor.

My Photo

 It was a joy to have the Long Tailed Tits and the Bullfinches  (two males and one female) visit during the count.

Paul's photo

Paul's photo

 

 

 Did you take part in the bird count?  If so what did you see? Anything different, or your usual visitors?