CUCKOOS AND DUCKS

I wake up to news that some lunatic has killed children with a suicide bomb in Manchester. What a crazy creature the human being is.

I sit outside in the sun and a cloud of columbines, and then a cuckoo calls from the fields above the house, mallard are on the shed roof waiting for the ladies with horses in the field next door to put out food. The pheasants will be down there too.

The tree sparrows have again taken over the house martin nest at the west end, have already had one lot of fledgelings and another brood are chirping in the nest. However the house martins are interested in the east gable nest.

Too wet to mow, keep having showers so weeded part of rosebud and asparagus. We have loads of lovely asparagus.
I have planted some parsley - the flat leaved one that R likes best.
Chard, beetroot and carrots sown but knowing my luck nothing will come up (and if it does it will be eaten.)(Not by us.)
The fruit is all in fine fettle except the gooseberries which have mildew and sawfly - AGAIN!

When I removed the black plastic sheeting from the bed voles shot in all directions - well there that had been in a nest in the middle of the bed. There were also a number of small toads hopping away.

Down on the decking the dozy collared doves are sitting in the sun with their wings spread. I thought they might be doing this so ants or something could help get rid of their parasites - but couldn't see any ants.

Finally mowed - Tuesday - and had to run at one point as upset a nest of forest cuckoo bumblebees, Psithyrus sylvestris.

The garden is full of colour but not as good as the pelargonium house at Balmoral last week.

The last of the spring tulips are almost done, all gone till next year, and the forgetmenots are beginning to go over (and sow themselves.) 

Orange poppies seem to be dominating the wild yellow poppy everywhere.
I have put in some sweet peas and hope for better than last year - plus a courgette and three butternut squashes.
The ammi and cosmos have not been a great success - I think I need a greenhouse (but we are getting and electric cooker for the summer instead.) In fact, now we have also got two pots outside the door we use filled with purple petunias. (Mmmm!)

This is a female chaffinch, a bird of which we have many.

 The wood is splendid, filled with pignut and campion - both the red and the albino (not white campion). Slanting light gives it a feeling of all's well with the world - when it is not. Ma nature just plugs on best she can despite mankind.

It is four in the afternoon and tea time so the sun says.