This has been a glorious day...sunshine and more sunshine and warm enough to stroll and not rush...head down to avoid an icy wind...
There are primroses on the earthen bank at the bottom of our little field and masses of bright yellow celandines...the rambling roses are covered in new growth and the little river at the end of the garden is gurgling past...water clear enough to see the rocks at the bottom...
Our little river runs into the big river just down the road...the river Lung...famed for the enormous pike who lurk in its depths and home to Otters and Kingfishers...great patches of reeds where the tiny Willow Warbler and Reed Warbler nest...and little Black Moorhens guard their tiny babies from the Pikes ever eager jaws... those huge patches of vivid yellow Water Lilies are home to Stickle-backs and bright green Frogs...easy feeding for the Herons, who perch on one leg staring intently at the water before rising with a harsh clatter into the sky...
This is where the Swifts and Swallows swoop and dive on summer afternoons and those gorgeous Emerald and incandescent Blue Dragon Flies dart hither and thither...like miniature helicopters with big glowing eyes...
The horrid Wood Pigeons have begun to coo...they'll throw a couple of sticks any old how into the top of the ancient Apple tree and then wonder why their eggs fall out onto the path to be gobbled up by the dogs...
My nest boxes will soon be home to squabbling Sparrows and dainty little Blue-Tits...the Starlings are already back in the stone wall of the potting shed...swearing loudly everytime they see either of us in the vicinity, they spend their days flying back and forth with fat grubs to feed their noisy babies...
Today has been the very best of days after the endless winter...a soft day. Our old donkeys were out on the field...Neddy lying full stretch in the sunshine while little Jack wandered about...nibbling and shouting to the occasional passing tractor...his ears pricked forward and his little fat belly shaking...
It has been the sort of day which makes you feel languid and at peace with yourself and the world around you...
A pleasure almost forgotten, of the warmth of the sun on your face and the mild promise of more to come...
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The Aftermath Of The Flood...
