Muddy Beak

Baby Blackbird.  Nikon D7000

22nd April 2014

The baby blackbirds are still hopping around the garden.   At last they are becoming less reliant on mum, but do not always seem to get the feeding bit right. 

This one seemed to have just been pecking at mud this morning.

I kept waiting for mum blackbird to come around, lick a tissue, and wipe the mud off its beak!

Baby blackbird looking for bird seed.  Nikon D7000

Lilly Pad

Lilly Pad.  Nikon D7000

21st April 2014

The pond is bursting into life quite quickly now.  As the water has warmed up, the lilly has started to grow lots of leaves.   This is one of the first to unfurl, ready to tempt frogs to sit on it (well, for the fish to hide underneath anyway).

I am sure it will not be long before the flower buds break the water and start to swell.

Easter Bunnies

Alex finds another egg.  Nikon D7000

20th April 2014

The weather was ok first thing this morning for the traditional Easter egg hunt in the garden.

I went out and hid a whole stack of little eggs, and a few big ones.

Katie and Alex had good fun hunting them out (Liz declined this year).   Luckily they did well as I could not remember where I hid them all!

Alex finds a chocolate rabbit.  Nikon D7000

April Ice

Ice from the freezer.  Nikon D7000

19th April 2014

No it is not a hideous deterioration in the weather; I finally had enough of the lid of the freezer not quite closing properly.

The food is in the garage all wrapped up and the ice is thawing out slowly.

There were lots of bags and tubs of unlabelled 'stuff' in the freezer that has lost its identity...

Very much a case of 'are you feeling lucky Punk?' with a random unlabelled choice for tea tonight!

Magnolia

Magnolia.  Nikon D7000

18th April 2014

The purple Magnolia in the garden has just started to bloom.   It looks like there a stacks of buds this year so we should get a good crop of big purple blooms.

The tree overhangs the pond, so I may have to spend some time fishing the petals out of the water in a few weeks too.

White Goods

Washing Machine, Fuji F10

17th April 2014

When washing whites that are a bit smeggy and washing powder is just not up to the job, there are additives that are meant to make your 'whites whiter than white'.

It appears this one particular brand has a distinct foaming action that is designed to clean the outside of the machine too ....

Just Resting

Fly resting on the Azalea.   Nikon D7000

16th April 2014

Today was sunny and the 'Bluebird' Azalea is in full bloom.

A nice juicy-looking green fly was resting on it; well the chickens thought it looked juicy, not me!