Today has been an exciting one in my world. I’ve spent half-an-hour watching a pair of goldfinches rummaging around in our lawn – we’ve seen an amazing array of birds since we came to this house but until today, no goldfinches. Their ‘cousins’ – chaffinches, bullfinches and greenfinches have been here in abundance (along with many, many varieties of more distant cousins in the feathered world), but no goldfinches. I feel a great deal of satisfaction that I can add them to our list.

Later this morning, I spent another happy time watching a gaggle of starlings squeezing their way into and out of our loft space, while balancing straw, moss and other nest-building materials on their way in. I reckon that’s both a blessing and a burden!!!!

After the starlings, I was waiting for the shower to heat up, while looking down into our ‘secret garden’. I spotted a female blackbird, similarly laden with moss, straw and twigs. She was sitting on the fence to my veggie patch….then she flew across to the fence below my vantage point, then, while I looked on in delight and amazement, she jumped into the heart of the huge, newly flowering camellia right by the window. I watched as she did the same journey three or four times but was so scared of frightening her, I left her to it. I am thrilled to have blackbirds nesting so close to the house.

Delight continued, when I went into the greenhouse to do the watering to find a couple of tomato seedlings out of the soil – yee haaa…..only trouble is, I used the pens that had been left by the previous owner in the greenhouse and the names have washed off the tags with the hosepipe. What’s the point of having non-permanent markers in a wet environment???? Now I won’t know my Ailsa Craigs from my Gardener’s delights. Well, not until they are fruiting anyway!!! This is one of the two!

It wasn’t all plain sailing – I did also discover my veggie plot is infested with ground elder so I am going to be battling that for an eternity.

So, did I get around to my planting today? Click here to see!

This time last year, we were having a fabulous day with Ginny and Nigel