After a week spent travelling up and down the A1 to London I am finally home at The Gables.  The sun was rising as I drove along Mill Road and the cats were in the driveway to greet me – or possibly to miaoww for their breakfast.  One of the old hens has begun to lay again and everywhere daffodils are poking up through the lawn. The blue tits have laid claim to the nest box outside the back door under the pergola and the sheep are looking pot bellied and very pregnant.  We will move them to the paddock soon and hope that lambing begins by the end of the month.

I sat outside in a rocking chair with Mabel on my lap, gazing into the sun and admiring the hanging baskets filled with pansies that Jeremy put up in the autumn.  I may be too optimistic but it feels as though winter is disappearing and spring has begun.

nb please ignore earlier half finished post that was inadvertently published.  It is too early for the tits to be sitting but they are scouting out and grabbing a nest and this site was used by tits last year.