Spring has sprung

I seem to have been rather obsessed with health issues of late. maybe that's not surprising in the circumstances. However, I feel the time has come for a divergence.

Spring has well and truly arrived in our garden. A blue tit family has moved into the nestbox just outside our kitchen window. I say family as now there seems to be a constant to-ing & fro-ing as the tits charge round the side of the building to the seed feeders & back again. I'm assuming that means there is young there. There's the occasional stop for a quick breather in the hedge nearby.

At the front, the herb garden is looking lusciously green. The oregano seems set to spread over everything. I think the time has come for a bit of thinning out. I did take some out last year to give to a friend who's taken up beekeeping - oregano is a real magnet for bees. All this seems to have done is encourage the herb to spread that much faster. I'm obviously going to have to be more ruthless. 

I also cut down the curry plant with the result the southernwood is more noticeable. The bergamot seems to have plenty of foliage this year, as does the salad burnet. I'm pleased to say the tarragon has reappeared, the flavour more intensely aniseedy than ever. The chives are budding up.

In the  back garden the fruit trees are coming into blossom. First was the cherry (I wonder if the birds will let me have any of the fruit this year Suspect not as usual.) On the other side the pear tree is now turning white under the towering damson tree in our next door neighbours' garden. Only the apple needs to bloom now.

We're expecting Al, our gardener, to come some time soon. He's been saying all week he will be coming. It's then rained, or rather drizzled, every day. But the lawn is in definite need of its first cut of the season. I'm not sure how much longer Al will be able to continue working. He's having problems with one of his knees & has been told he will have to have it replaced. He's hoping to last out until the end of the growing season. He had a cortisone injection last week & feels it has helped to reduce the pain.

I've had one venture into the garden. The flowering currant was full of pink.

Apart from that there's been much activity on the trellis as the collared doves get it together.  The blackbirds regularly chase one another around the garden. The magpies have been attacked by the joint forces of the collared doves. The latter suddenly showed a vicious streak. Life goes on.