Be Excellent To Each Other

I had a whole brood of not-quite-fully-fledged Pied Wagtails visit the balcony with either mum or dad yesterday - I think there were 8 or 9 birds in total. I thought it was a bit early but it seemed to be around their first flight - they were still rather small and scruffy.

Loads of birds started chirruping at about 12:20am last night, which was rather confusing (and slightly annoying as I couldn't sleep).

There aren't any daffodils around here, which I think is the accepted notification that spring is on it's way, but has anyone spotted any crocuses or other spring lovelies?

We bought some daffodils from Asda yesterday, does that count?

The local park had a couple of trees brimming with Long Tail and Coal Tits.

Snowdrops are out this end - they're the first harbinger of Spring. Crocuses are nearly there, but not quite yet, as are the dwarf irises.

Can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned. I love the Spring, it's my favourite season, whereas I think the winter absolutely blows - I absolutely cannot stand it. Blessed relief is in the post, then.

Gonna place my order for some grafted hybrid tomato plants soon - I'm sick of losing everything to late blight at the last minute!
(If that fails, I'll have to get a secondhand greenhouse, I think).

I like all the seasons but Summer is my favourite. I couldn't live somewhere that didn't have our distinct seasons, though. Actually thinking about it that's probably bollocks, I could quite happily live somewhere that's sunny all the time and just come back here for a a bit of rain every ten years or so.

Ours were out a couple of weeks ago. I didn't think they were a harbinger of Spring, more an indication that oh yes - it's still the middle of Winter.

Winter is my favourite season, followed by Autumn, Spring and then Summer. I don't like summer all that much at all. My pale, white skin was mean for cold climes.

I think the car dash being over 10c at 7:30am counts, no?

I've seen snowdrops in December. They're a winter flower, really, but very, very pretty. Crocuses are one of the earliest signs, I think. One colour always comes out first, but I can't remember which.

Do you think? Possibly you're right; oh well, I like to think of them that way, though I'm probably grasping at straws. Tulips>Daffodils>Crocuses>Snowdrops>fuck all

I was considering doing some work on the car this weekend, so it must be getting warmer.

Yeah, I love them too, Mimi. Such a seemingly delicate, subtle little flower, but they must be pretty tough little plants. We've got a big patch of them that's quadrupled over the years.

Yeah, I washed my car last weekend.

Thinking about it, I just love spring bulbs - hyacinths, tulips, crocuses, bluebells, daffodils. Especially daffs; such a cheerful yellow flower with (I think) a lovely scent - as welcome a sight as any, I'd say.

I planted hundreds of them a few years back and it was pretty hard work; I went crazy in buying far too many bulbs, really, and now they're everywhere and of course, even more come back every year as the already huge number of bulbs divide and multiply. I don't care though; I absolutely love them and the more the merrier, I say. Must be the Welsh in me.

They're sprouting up strongly now, though no flower buds as yet. It'll be a late season, what with all the terrible weather we've been having.

I'm hoping that when I leave work today it'll still be light. Always so much better to leave when it isn't dark.

The slugs seem to have thawed out. Noticed quite a few sucking on the dog shit that I cleared up last night.

Just got stared at for laughing!

There is a small bush type thing near me which has had blossom on since December.

Paedo.


It's not spring yet. I've said I'll start running again in spring. I don't reckon it'll be here 'til 2012 at the earliest.