Into the woods again and again before the canopy closes over and the bluebells disappear. Then home for asparagus feasts

Boxing hares

My horse loves the cow parsley, and grabs some as we go by, and then looks like Ermintrude the cow

Stranded on the motorway before dawn became a thing of beauty with the magnificent birdsong

Apple blossom scattered by the easterly wind joining the daisies and dandelions across the lawn

Young tomato plants added to a cucumber and sweet peppers in the greenhouse

Goldfinches flitting from tree to tree! Swallows in the barn!

My lawn is suddenly more daisy than grass

The wisteria climbing and sprouting around the house

Filling the feeders with grape jelly and sugar water for the orioles and hummingbirds

Woken by a friendly woodpigeon’s coos

Garden furniture out of storage

A fully leafed out acid green beech hedge

A swan on a nest in the reeds

Dandelion clocks in the field - like a white sea of bobbly, misty, fuzzy pompoms

Wild garlic and cheese scones and wild garlic pesto

Two Sandhill Cranes have made themselves at home right out our nook window area this week. They are feeling so very comfortable that they took to mating this morning as we had our breakfast

No Mow May here and instead of perfectly cut grass I have dandelions, daisies and violets

One lonely asparagus spear in my garden

Green green green in a thousand shades

May blossom in full throttle everywhere

Returned from a few days away to find the garden properly burst into lush green

Blackbirds with beaks full of worms

The shapes of the seedlings’ tiny leaves developing

Sitting as the evenings draw out watching the bats flutter around in crazy zigzags

The dawn chorus as the light creeps through the window at 5am

The very first sweet pea blossom, deep purple along the garden fence

Smelling the roses as I walk down the streets

The first thick green beautiful spear of asparagus reaching skyward

The swifts arrived on Beltane itself

Asparagus, housemartins, swallows, violets and trilliums

The first elderflower. And swallows flying over the fields

A field full of dandelion clocks

The Cornish hedgerows are stunning with white, yellow, pink, purple

A wild turkey meandering across the lawn, heading into the woods, in search of the hens who passed through earlier

The cow parsley is out in force, but slowly giving way to elderflower

Jack-in-the-pulpit, cuckoo flower, alexanders, wild strawberries and cascades of white chokecherry and honeysuckle along the woodland paths

The heady scent of green and growing things

Munching through the first of my homegrown rocket

A bank holiday birthday bluebell woodland walk, and home for fizz and an asparagus tea

Still light in the sky at 9.20pm!

An exaltation of skylarks

Afternoons are warm enough to enjoy a scoop of ice cream, sitting on a bench watching the beachgoers

Extraordinary, almost prehistoric herons, swooping over the loch to catch food for the alien-looking chicks in their big messy nests

My first rose in the garden

Lily of the valley are perfuming the springtime air

The sky is blue and I can hear the turtle dove cooing from the top of the walnut tree

Rapeseed fading, poppies appearing

Calves joining the lambs in the fields and the cotton grass on the moor

Layer upon layer of white frothiness - wild garlic to cow parsley to horse chestnut blooms

Mourning my tulips

A chilly north wind while waiting in the queue at the polling station

Red flax and poppies in our tiny scrap of front garden. I haven’t sown them, just stopped mowing and they’ve appeared as if by magic

Two speckled wood butterflies feeding on the woodruff

Celebrating the remarkable Sir David Attenborough and his 100 years on planet earth

Damp weather bringing the snails out. The dog and I had to pick our route through them carefully on the footpath

The May day fair: Jack in the green, maypole dancing and welly wanging. I even won a bubble blower on the tombola...

The beautiful melody of the blackbird’s song

Spent an afternoon depositing trugs full of beautiful, worm filled compost on all the vegetable beds, a little robin shadowing my every move. Then a cup of tea sitting on the wall with the sun on my back and the sound of a lawnmower and the smell of my neighbour’s barbeque

Out on my horse today, I heard my first cuckoo of the year

Dark stormy skies, sunny blue skies, a vivid rainbow bridging between them

The golden glow of buttercups catching the sun

Drizzle, bluebells, primroses and a roe deer

One roll of thunder, immediate explosion of lightning, five minutes of drenching rain, and then blue skies

The farmer puts his sheep and lambs in the field

Blowsy crimson peonies hanging on through the wind and rain

Umbrellas lifted up and inside out

A week of fresh asparagus and rhubarb

Waking up to a blizzard outside my bedroom window

The rose by my back door is covered in fat pink buds

Washing out, washing in and washing out again

The Cottonwood trees are releasing their seed. Blowing and gathering like snow

Tiny birds darting into nest boxes with beakfuls of food

Going outside in the evening and the air feeling warmer than inside

Driving home after 9.30pm in a beautiful twilight, stars coming out in a darkening violet sky

The trees at their fullest. So much green and texture

A roundabout full of waving dog daisies with the odd splash of scarlet from a poppy

The hedgerows a lovely jumble of vibrant bluebells, pink campions and the froth of cow parsley

Munching cows and frolicking lambs

A lovely big frog - our first - has chosen its home in our pond

Bravely planted out my first courgette plant. All in a week, from fears of frost, to heat exhaustion

Tunnels of lime green loveliness

The first pink blooms of roses, fishermen on the river in the early morning

The wild strawberries are ripe and ready to pick

Chip shop chips eaten in the garden last night

The joy of that shrill cry and acrobatic display of prowess high above a busy Bromley road - the swifts have made it back from Africa

First t-shirt dog walk of the year

No swifts here in Michigan, but purple martins checking out gourd houses I’ve hung for them this week

Watching baby wrens fledge from their nest in the shed. So tiny

Sitting outside at a cafe, next to a little river, having coffee with friends, listening to birds and feeling enveloped in gorgeous green

First garden G&T of the year

Parking under a weeping willow for shade and hearing its long sweeping finger tips grazing the roof of the car as they danced in the warm breeze

Sage, roses, jasmine, iris, Sweet William, elder, geranium, strawberries, peas, clematis, salvias, osteospermum and pansies

The hummingbirds returned

The heatwave has brought me into the garden to sleep in a sleeping bag under the stars the last couple of nights

Peas are four inches high in the garden but there is still snow up in the mountains

The heady scent of elderflower in the air

The enticing smell of wild garlic. A field full of Highland cows and their calves

Windflowers in the woods, as my friend Joy used to call them. And it will be her birthday tomorrow, the first time I haven't been able to send her a card

On the moor the curlew are back

The paintbox colours of the tulips popping up everywhere

Very honoured by a blue tit going in and out of one of our nest boxes and a great tit at the other one

The coast path into Porthmadog. First spring violets, banks adorned with primroses, gorse in full bloom and the scent of honeyed coconut in the air

Cleavers, dead nettle, corn speedwell, dandelions, chickweed...

Hot cross buns for breakfast

Watching the big orange full moon rise over the Thames, knowing that at that moment, there are actually people going there

Birdsong and blackthorn blossom confetti and the first swallow of the year perched on a wire

First wood sorrel flowers, still tightly rolled up

Bittersweet Passover with old friends and new friends, the familiar tastes sharpened by fiery locally grown, freshly dug horseradish (maror) and a final toast to freedom and peace for all

A sparrow poking its head out of a swift brick in one of the new builds

Rain showers and sunshine and magnolia blooms everywhere

A beautiful peacock butterfly

Lots of lovely cowslips - my mum's favourite so always a poignant sight

Ladybirds on fresh Alexanders and pussy willow solarised against the blue sky on a bright, blustery day

The mama bear and her three half-grown cubs hanging out in our backyard in the April twilight. Mama breaks off a branch of new maple leaves, which she nibbles while the youngsters wrestle and turn somersaults

A Good Friday walk across healthland, amid chirrupping blackbirds, gorse, bluebells and primrose in flower, and swathes of wild garlic. Home for lunch, then out for the 3 p.m. church service

Constantly adjusting layers in cold winds, warm sun

Watching Artemis II fly off to the moon. There were not enough tissues

Wind and rain with a hail storm, followed by bright sun, green lawn, dark clouds

The garden glowing with daffodils and tulips

First wild garlic bread

The first tiny seedlings in the greenhouse

Showers, wind, and a powerful earthquake that jolted the house and rattled the timbers, necessitating a renewed relationship of trust with the ground

Polar plunges here in Alaska. After a long cold winter, we can think of nothing better than to jump into the frigid north Pacific Ocean

A fox running across the water meadows at dawn

Terrys orange Easter eggs

Our Birmingham street has been woken up by a woodpecker hammering away at the chimney pots, to amplify their sound and to attract a mate...

An abundance of primroses in the hedgerows and the sound of bright birdsong

A red poll in the willow tree and a humming bird hawk month feeding on the flowering currant bush

Bees buzzing around the blossom on the cherry tree, fully white and bride-like

A Good Friday chill in the hammock with my jacket and blanket watching big, puffy white clouds pass at speed in the wind

A traditional lamb dinner

The pink moon hanging over Brighton Pier on a beautiful evening crunching over the shingle

Dawn service on the church square on Easter Day. Flute, singing and the smells and bells. Joined by a blackbird and other friends as the light broke

The air is so mild and friendly

The starlings picking the papery bark from the silver birch for their nests

Suddenly the garden feels three times fuller, like it has rapidly put on weight

The South Dorset Ridgeway on a bright spring day removing layers, with pulses of swallows flying in from the sea

An absolute flurry of goldfinch invading the garden

Looking at the moon and thinking about the astronauts travelling around it

Driving up to Northumberland for the summer. Our annual trek north

Warmth and sunshine on wanders along the canal. A kingfisher splashing into the water ahead and a very hissy goose giving me a Paddington hard stare

Magnolia buds and a crescendoing dawn chorus in Perthshire

Spotting the moon near my chimney at dawn, on the day that the Artemis astronauts glided past, thinking ‘wow, there are people passing by that moon RIGHT NOW’. Stargazing in just my pyjamas and not feeling even a chilly breeze, like July

Tulips of many colours

Hot and bright sunny weather, skiing in the Alps

Down in the beech woods the trees are dressed in the delicate green of new leaves

Apple blossom

Tiny goldfinches flitting low and teasing in and out of the trees and paddock fencing

In the North East it’s the hawthorn that’s out first (never the horse chestnut)

Travelling by boat between steep river banks of narcissus, snakes head fritillary (pink and white), cyclamen, celandine, dandelion, bluebell, magnolia petals and wood anemone

The bees buzzing around the rosemary bush

Jumpers remain on standby

Tulips “red as pain” (as Alice Thomas-Ellis described them) and larks ascending over the Town Moor in Newcastle

Both the hawthorn and rowan trees look like they are preparing for a bumper year

There is so much colour, like someone switched on a light

First breakfast in the garden of the year

Wild roses in bloom, dark pink petals amongst clouds of blackberry blossoms, flashes of cerulean as the male Western Bluebird flits from pole to pole on the fence

A flock of playful lambs. Noisy squabbles over twigs. Flurries of snow and a cheerful rainbow

The violets are turning lawns purple

Watching the new lime green leaves emerging daily on the beech hedge which surrounds the front of the garden - two very small patches of green low down so far…

Two warm days and the apple trees in the garden have gone from dark pink buds to a mass of pale pink froth

Break up in Alaska has taken over and water is running everywhere

The cowslips in the meadow are in full bloom now, thousands of little pale yellow flowers amongst the grass

Saw not just one, but a pair of choughs in Cot Valley, Cornwall

Had to scrape frost off car windscreen the last couple of mornings, and wearing a mix of t-shirts & thermals

The swallows have arrived!

The bluebells are now a hazy purple carpet rather than a collection of individuals

Made a nettle soup, with a touch of dandelion and sweet woodruff

Drifting through wide seas of bluebells, in ancient woodland, knowing you’re walking alongside the ghosts of all those who have done this over generations

Blinks of white as the back ends of bunnies bounce about. More shades of green. Dramatic clouds

A delicious drink of birch water by tapping the birches in my garden

Rainbows and the sound of ice cream vans

Lighting my fire pit with friends to celebrate the safe re-entry of Artemis II and its crew

Several delicious fijoas on our miniscule tree, more like a sapling, and a New Zealand mantis on our basil plants

Lilies of the valley in bud

Here in the Pennines the magnolia buds are just beginning to unfurl, and the later daffodils are still going strong

Dandelions made their appearance this week. I got on my hands and knees to smell one, a scent that takes me back to childhood

The cherry tree by the tube station is almost overburdened by blossoms

Blue, white, orange tips, brimstones, peacocks and speckled wood

The dawn chorus making their racket at 4:30

The joy of my weekly ocado delivery of £1 daffodils continues!

I can hear the nightingales singing late at night, from the end of my garden

Visiting a famous tulip farm in the Netherlands with thousands of varieties of tulip and taking insane amounts of photos

Fifteen hours of sunlight here in Alaska now as we crawl out from under winter's tight grip. Everyone is ready to get going on their planting and gardening

Bracken and oak leaves uncurl as if they are opening up to greet the spring sunshine

Travelling to the most southwesterly point in the UK and witnessing the agapanthus in flower!

Driving along a valley where bluebells carpeted the woods on either side of the road

Sat in a beech wood surrounded by bluebells and hugged a tree

Looking for Lyrid meteors on super clear nights, the cat curled up on me keeping me warm, Ursa Major keeping watch above my head

The swallows are back, the lilac is out and the poplar tree’s a-shimmering

It’s that special time of year when the rising sun shines directly on my pillow

Particles of sun light dancing upon the river

Trying to walk through the burgeoning undergrowth and cleavers tangled around my ankles and tripped me up

Inky dark irises in the University gardens on the way to a lunchtime concert to hear gamelan and organ in conversation

A week of windy seaside walks beneath blue skies, and I saw my first ever curlew

A birthday walk in a bluebell wood in warm sunshine followed by a pint and ploughman’s shared with my beloved

Close encounter with two deer. Bluebells spreading to carpet the forest floor. Patches of green beginning to join together. Tightly rolled ferns ready to unfurl

Loads of daisies and dandelions in the park. Warm enough to be outside without a coat

First full day in the park and I have a rosy glow on my cheeks and nose. Nothing to be proud of and I feel silly but the suncream is now out!

Cuckoo calling at the top of Leith hill

Stolen moment with a cup of coffee out on the cliff, soothed by the rhythm of the crashing waves

The birds have all returned to nest on the wetlands and tundra and the bears are coming out of their dens. Soon the moose will be dropping their calves. Spring has sprung in the far north

Winter coat and gloves for the early dog walk, jeans and T-shirt for the afternoon walk

Got the garden furniture out of the garage and gave it a good clean before letting it dry in the sunshine

A tiny soprano pipestrelle bat darting about

Peak cherry blossom in Edinburgh, perfect for my wedding day pictures!

The orange-tip butterflies fold their wings and rest among the cow parsley flowers

Stuffed my pockets with beautiful wild garlic leaves and made pesto when I got home

Our wisteria is a sight to behold - fully covering the front of the house and trained around the windows

I saw swifts in London this week! Over the serpentine in Hyde park

The dandelion fields are glorious as are the bluebells. The duck that has been sitting near our pond has now left with her ducklings

The heady scent of lilacs and the buzz of bees

Potting on chamomile and lavender plug plants. Sowing marigold, rocket, sage and dill seeds. Nurturing seeds already germinated: parsley, chives, coriander

Bluebell on the ground and horse chestnut blooms overhead

Tickling the tadpoles in the afternoon sunshine - they suck on your fingers with their tiny mouths

The curlews are back!! I saw, and heard, three of them flying over my garden

Helping my friend with lambing on her farm. So moving and joyous that I spent more time in tears than actually doing anything useful

A fox and a badger captured on our security camera

Two grey wagtails chasing, twisting and turning over the river

Two lunch breaks in the garden, washing drying on the line

The unmistakable cry of a kite, flying so low over my garden I saw her warm honey, cream and treacle colours catching the sunlight

There were long, long shadows and I picked just a handful of wild garlic for my supper

First butterflies, comma and peacock

Roundabouts of sunny yellow daffodils

A sea of purple crocuses. Frogspawn. The vivid arc of a rainbow. The full moon in a clear sky. Towels on the washing line

To Aberystwyth to see the starling colony on the pier. Heart stopping murmurations, and the first mint choc chip of the year

Now that the daytime temperatures are getting above freezing, neighbors are collecting sap from sugar maples to boil off into syrup

Feeling the buzz of the planetary parade

The loudest oystercatcher flying overhead last night, and a crystal clear sky under the full moon

The magnolia is opening up its blooms

Warm still days, many big bees

Chased a brimstone round the garden hoping to get a shot of it sitting on one of the primroses that have generously spread into the lawn

We walked down a path next to the rushes and the air was full of seeds. My daughter twirled around in a circle with a rush in her hand and watched the seeds fly off into the breeze. It looked like snow

The automatic vent on the greenhouse has begun to open on sunny days

Two dandelions, and a queen wasp in my bathroom last night

A full Wind Moon, celandines, red dead nettle, speedwell and dog violets, and so much birdsong

Magnolia-blossom candles ready to morph into teacups

Blossom on the blackthorn and pear trees and glorious sunshine

Some tidying up outside, picking up the endless twigs and branches, a bit of weeding

Bulbs opening everywhere - Oh my allergies!

Sitting out with a cup of tea watching an Anna’s hummingbird feed on red salvia flowers, so close that I could see tiny feet tucked up against its body

A playful spring moon half covered in red from Earth’s shadow

First dog walk with no jacket, and I even rolled up my thermal leggings

Resting on the sun lounger with a book in my hands, the cat at my feet, sunshine warm, daffodils, the first tulips, hyacinths all around

Temperature of 24 yesterday. Probably the sun’s last hurrah. Aotearoa seeing Autumn in

Peak cherry plum blossom along my local beck - always the first trees to blossom

Frog shenanigans in the garden pond - I’m now on spawn watch

Snow overnight on Thursday so awoke to a brief return to winter on Friday. Snow on the hills and on car windscreens

The snowdrops have finished but the daffodils, crocus and primroses are providing lots of colour

The first pussy-willow sprouting from furry grey buds, to a fluffy yellow explosion

Bright yellow daffodils, purple and lilac iris and crocus, clouds of pink and white blossom all under a blueish sky. Such a welcome change from constant grey

Warmth in the sun and a flask of tea, and a walk over the muddy salt marshes

The sun has enough warmth this week that the icicles are dripping from the eaves of the house

I went to the garden centre and bought some potted daffodils, plus lots of seeds for my balcony herb garden

Gool Peran Lowen! Happy St. Piran’s day! (5.3.26) I ate a pasty

Half the pond full of frog spawn

The “rat-a-tat-tat” of a woodpecker in the woods, and a chase to spot him rewarded by a brief flash of colour high above me

First pickings of baby wild garlic leaves in the local park

Blackthorn blossom frothing along the hedgerows already humming with insects

My new pear tree has buds of blossom

Tiny lambs testing out their wobbly legs

Heron, high above, carrying nesting materials

The old, mossy cherry tree all over white blossoms, most still only partially opened, but already smelling deliciously of warm honey

The first smell of cut grass of the year - a time machine to all the other springs

Magnolia season and the collection in Bute Park near Cardiff Castle looked stunning in the sunshine. From white to dark pink, from budding to full blooms

Spotted the first wood anenomes opening, a carpet of white stars

The song from the blackbird has ramped up this week, he sounds like he’s calling my neighbour Margaret

Arrivals and departures. First chiffchaff of the year on the same walk as hearing a wall of sound from a flock of chattering redwings

Daffodils in the garden fiercely fighting strong winds and rain one minute and then basking in glorious sunshine the next

First washing out on the line

Pink and white blossoms abound, the birds are pairing up and singing their little hearts out

Colder than January in the Pacific Northwest. Snow this morning. Cayote pack calling in the woods

Fast moving clouds and watching the long grass in a nearby field ripple and wave in the odd patch of sun

I can see the green of the emerging crabapple leaves from the other side of the garden, even without my glasses

Canada’s 'False Spring' - light jackets with record high temps only to dive back to winter apparel and freezing rain

A week of both lion and lamb. Fierce thunderstorms and snow flurries; then enough afternoon sunshine to encourage the first blooms of milky snowdrops and pastel crocus to unfurl open

Daytime temperatures have warmed enough to create a thick fog over the cold Pacific ocean

The (American) robins are back! I heard their chuckling calls before I saw them, fat and sassy from their southern holidays

A flock of siskins in my garden

Grocery store daffodils inside, a howling snowstorm outside

Bringing the tulip pots out of the greenhouse where they over-wintered

Last nights howling wind and rain left the blossom scattering like snow

The song thrush has started their nightly dusk calling from the garden, a bit of a racket compared to the blackbird

Hot pink camelias on my way to work

Ate too many Mini Eggs

Slow creep of Autumn here: pink of spindle berries, lettuce bolting, leaf fall begins

The hornbeam is outlined in soft green, as I get closer I can see it is covered in catkins

Mud puddles one day, snow and frozen ground the next

Two robins visiting the birdfeeder together then darting back into the hedge

We planted early potatoes today

The hornbeam is outlined in soft green, as I get closer I can see it is covered in catkins

Thinking about planting the first earlies....and then thinking better of it

Bees! Huge queen bees buzzing around in the warmth of the sunshine and getting ready to set up house

A sneaky day off work today, for no reason other than it’s nice out and I want to enjoy it

Sparrows gathering nesting material in the garden - particularly entertaining when the piece they want is still attached to the plant

Spotting my colleague dragging his chair out to the car park to do his crossword in the sun during lunch break

Breakfast is accompanied by dawn, at least until the clocks change

Brimstones, chiffchaffs, wild daffodils, hairy-footed flower bees, star magnolia, swans mating and adders sunbathing

Welcoming Ostara today

Warm sun under a cloudless blue sky

First yellow rapeseed flowers starting to appear…itchy eyes and a runny nose

A procession of white blossom. Cherry plum fading as blackthorn is frothing

In the highlands of Scotland crocuses are just starting to be past their best and daffodils not quite out

Full on dandelions and daisies perking up shabby city corners

Wallflowers and tulips in flower, fritillaries in bud

Fingers smelling of freshly picked wild garlic

Last glimpses of Orion before he takes his holiday, Jupiter still bright

The first chiff chaff, the first peacock butterfly, the first dandelion. The first - the first - the first! Like greeting old friends

The grass in our garden is growing! I'll need to mow it

On the eve of the spring equinox we played happily on a Donegal beach scattered with little brittle stars and watched the sky turn amber

Opening the curtains, and the windows too

My first hay fever sneeze whilst out walking in the sunshine

Winter bedding switched for summer bedding

Foraging spring shoots of wild garlic and nettles and cleavers for teas

Cowslips, the first I’ve seen blooming this year

Jackdaws nesting on the side of our house. Can hear them tapping the moss off the roof

Magnolia trees having their centre stage moment

Fresh, gloriously dry washing on the line

In the mid-Atlantic US, it’s the season for howling winds and wild temperature swings, but the cardinals are singing their mating songs and the crocus are finally in bloom

Rain, rain and more rain here in Washington. Wind blowing branches against the windows

Lunch in the park local for the first time this year

Fresh green leaves have sprouted, slowly replacing dreamy pink and white flowers on the early bloomers, cherry, plum, magnolia. An unusual and long-lasting spring heat wave here in California

Hammock up!

Peacock butterflies following me down the canal towpath

My first walk without a coat

On a house search in Suffolk: blue skies, bright green fields and daffodils everywhere from gardens, verges, woodlands and on pretty village greens

Heard my first chiffchaff of the year and saw a little egret in a tree

The first day of wearing shorts this year

So much magnolia in full magnificence everywhere in the gardens of pretty Shropshire villages - all trimmed off with millions of daffodils and narcissi, tulips and hyacinth

Preparing containers and planting the first herb and flower seeds on my balcony, accompanied by birdsong

Bread and cheese! Tender new hawthorn leaves, and a scarlet ladybird on buttery yellow gorse buds in the sunshine

Returning ospreys, and wild garlic

A rogue squirrel has eaten the heads off my prize tulips

Opened the greenhouse door for the first time since fall and found it filled with the musty smell of a long winter and felt the warmth of the solar heat from the sun

Two robins at the bottom of the garden gathering bits of nesting material in the rain

The first almond blossom of the season. White with barely-there pink edges

Making orange curd

Frogs! They’re back and their singing is wonderful

Blue tits exploring the nest box

A welcome splash of yellow from the first dandelions - there will be some pollen around for any early bees

Sparrow hawk on the washing line

The jackdaws are scoping out their chimney of 2026

A first camelia bud starting to open

We had a big snow—almost a foot - and one brave daffodil that kept its bloom the entire time

A cowslip in flower

Snowdrops and catkins in the woods on Inys Mon

Getting soaked every time I go out

My mini wildflower meadows have leaves appearing - wild carrot, clover, yarrow, knapweed, lady's bedstraw and salad burnet

Buds forming on my fruit trees and the rhubarb is starting to push up, despite the grey breezy weather

A few hours of brilliant sunshine on Saturday which had us all confused

Muddy boots and a tentative dunnock testing out its scrabbly song

Imbolc was wet and foggy so lit a fire and some candles inside and dreamed of being dry

The hellebores are coming up fast now

A beautiful glow of sunset himself through the kitchen window- at 5 o’clock!

Silhouettes of bare winter branches now peppered with fat buds

Keep popping out to the garden to see how the Spring bulbs are pushing up

The pair of swans at the canal are making a practice nest - the one they make before settling down and making a proper one later in spring

We marked St.Brigid’s day on a beach in Donegal with friends. Some of us braved a fiercely cold sea dip

A tree full of pussy willows, just tiny balls of velvet telling us spring is on its way

Just so much rain. So much

The bird feeders are full of chickadees, siskin, nuthatches and red-poles

The garden is so muddy that the chairs are sinking into the lawn

A beautiful full Imbolc moon hanging over Leith

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so 6 more weeks of winter

Drizzly rain for days, but the churchyard snowdrops love it

A longer stretch of daylight. It was bright this evening until after 5.30 pm

I’m woken up most days by the blackbirds chirping which is much nicer than an alarm clock

The first crocuses peeking through in the pot I planted up last autumn while in chemotherapy treatment. An act of faith at a dark time so it is lovely to see them emerge just as I, too, am emerging and starting to feel more like myself again

The sharp brightness of the last blood oranges to light up the greyness

Herons are beginning to nest in my local park, looking severely down at everyone from their big messy nests, skulking around the loch in pairs

Bought £1 daffodils from the supermarket and changed my winter themed duvet cover for a spring one

Spotting the tiny red flowers on the hazel

Seeds potted up in trays on the kitchen windowsill in neat little rows

The quince by the front door has little pink buds preparing to open

Everywhere is new green moss in the little beech wood. The cameraman has put on an emerald filter

One washing completely dried outdoors in the intermittent sunshine/breeze

Crocuses turning patches of grass into purply watercolours

Groundhog Days of rain and greyness

The red squirrel that cruises by the kitchen window of our rented cottage every morning is now sporting a large belly

Watching a magpie determined to pick up the biggest twig for nest building

The blackthorn is starting to flower

Embracing the rain, wrapped up, wellies on squelching in mud, umbrella up

Cleaning and sharpening garden tools. I’ll be ready

The redwings are starting up their furious chatter, they’ll soon be on their way...

The husks of walnuts that fell bright green in October, now black as soot breaking down into the soil in the woods behind our house

Listening to the song thrush singing each morning from the pine tree in the churchyard next to my cottage

The youngest shoots on the willow trees I walk by every day with my dog suddenly shifted from dull mustardy yellow to a vibrant chartreuse as the sap started to flow

Nibbling the first shoots of wild garlic, the flavour so intense it almost burnt my mouth

Bunches of mimosa to light up our house

Brought my first pot of bulbs (crocus) out from the greenhouse to provide colour outside the living room window

The hyacinth is in flower

The garden birds by day and the tawny owl by night are defiantly announcing they are ready for spring, despite the relentless rain

In Minnesota and the land is still snow covered, no spring buds at all yet

I made full use of the one dry, bright, cloudless sky day by meeting a friend for a hill top walk. We looked out 360 degrees from the top - joyous

The heavenly scent of the pink flowers on the daphne bush

Blackcapped chickadees hanging on the fresh catkins on the alder trees

A huge yellow patch of daffodils in a muddy patch by the A48 in Cardiff

Skiing, hiking and chasing the fat mama squirrel away from the bird feeder. I am wondering if hellebore can survive in Alaska

The first wild primroses

A lot of Winter Olympics!

Heard a blackbird singing its heart out at dusk here in the Aosta valley of Northern Italy . Heavy snow but also first lunch outside when the sun shone

The bee boxes have been delivered to the surrounding almond orchards here in California. It’s always sad to see the ground littered with bees that didn’t survive transport. Soon my morning walks will be filled the sound of buzzing bees

Was expecting snow at the weekend which didn't materialise but my sister, on holiday in Tenerife, messaged me to let me know that it was snowing there!! I posted a gloating picture of the glorious sunshine

Visiting the temple on the Lunar New Year. Offerings of flowers, candles little bowls of food and fruit, we lit incense and prayed for our ancestors

Blossom everywhere, blousy mimosa and delicate white cherry. There are violets on the lawn and a pregnant vixen in a rare patch of sun

Birdsong ramping up and the wood pigeons building a nest

First bumblebee of the year

The house filling with the smell of lemons and frying batter

Evidence of badger activity. Footprints and lots of holes - they are enjoying the soft wet ground

A ladybird on the windowsill, daffodils outside the pub, and pancakes scoffed with us all stood around the kitchen, taking turns to flip

Sparrows in our front hedge get louder every day

Purple, white, cream, yellow crocuses up in clumps all along the paths at the park

The remains of the rose pruning, with numb fingers under a dull sky

Snowdrop Cream Teas at the village hall across from the church

Making good luck paper lanterns with lots of music and happiness

Staying up past my bedtime watching the Winter Olympics

Pancakes with fresh lemon and a sprinkling of sugar all eaten stood up next to the hob

There’s just so much more light now, despite the clouds and the rain

Another walk in the mizzle. Leaving the sound of rush hour traffic the higher I climb up the moor. It’s 5:30pm and I can still see the path

Sunny enough to sit, well wrapped up, in the local park’s walled garden and listen to birdsong

Pruning our apple tree, sipping tea with the sun on my face

The blackthorn tree is in full flower and a nearby hawthorn has a few green leaves. My mum always says that when the Blackthorn flowers there’s more cold weather on the way

Chives popping up all over my lawn, the first crop of 2026

The duck and drake came for a visit to the pond, same pair as last year, I think it is their valentine day outing

My first cleavers tea of the year

Fabulous choppy big waves. Lots of whelk egg balls washed ashore along with a colourful array of dulses and bladderwracks

Making very long hand-pulled noodles for lunar new year

My huge clumps of beautiful tete-a-tete mini narcissi have begun to flower

Sunrise hit that sweet spot to coincide with my first cuppa of the day

So much more light; warm sun segueing into black skies and hail; a bunch of daffodils next to the kitchen sink

Snow on the hills of East Lothian seen from a hot tub