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Jackie continued with the weeding of the rose garden today, whilst I wandered with the camera.
Tulips are now in bloom.
This one really did come from Amsterdam, courtesy of Danni and Andy who brought it back for us.
A bank of yellow primroses fronts this striated group at the entrance to the back drive,
along which golden wallflowers are massing.
Our first rhododendron is beginning to flower;
Japanese maples are coming into leaf,
and a deep pink cherry blossom is blooming.
Saxifrages planted last year are thriving.
Clearly confused as to the season. a sleepy wasp staggered about.
This afternoon we went for a drive.
The tide was high at Keyhaven, where the wreck was now submerged,
and the Hurst lighthouse clear beyond the line of moored boats.
A purple-headed mallard and mate basked on a lichen covered wall;
and a white-headed coot paddled past a white bird hiding in the reeds.
In view of Hurst spit swans waded, foraged, and drank. One bore a tide-mark causing speculation about what it had been swimming in.
Among those silhouetted on the spit were a woman and two children,
and two young women. In each group there was one person engaged in a mobile phone conversation.
We took a diversion around a housing development in Milford on Sea. Given that these streets all bore the name of a different bird, I wondered what a sparrow was doing on Swallow Drive.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s superb beef cobbler, sautéed potatoes and mushrooms, with crisp carrots, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli. The Culinary Queen drank sparkling water while my drink was San Andres Chilean merlot.