an English spring

I know that in parts of the northern hemisphere the weather is not at all spring-like but here in the south of England we are making up for our cold, grey, wet winter with a few glorious spring days. Today it was cold and rainy again so spring is not settled but I enjoy the bright days we do get.

These photographs were taken near home a few days ago. The greens at this time of the year are so fresh, young Horse Chestnut leaves

and Dog's Mercury.

Lots of spring flowers, Celandines

Greater Stitchwort,

Wood Anenomes,

 
in the hedges, frothy Blackthorn blossom

and another sign of warmer days, this Small Tortoiseshell has woken from hibernation.

spring garden

We have just returned from a weekend break. I will post some pictures but at the moment I am still sorting through a ridiculously large amount of photographs from just three days away. I remember the days of film when I would have considered a 36 print film more than adequate for a weekend away, yet  I have several times that number to sort through. Something to think about, whether to take fewer pictures so that "sort through photographs" doesn't turn into a time consuming chore on a to do list.

On the other hand the ease of taking many photographs means that I am happy to record the changes in the garden through the seasons, something that I wouldn't have done in as much detail if I was paying for developing and printing.

I took the photographs earlier this morning, a few days before spring officially starts and already there is plenty of colour in the garden, a refreshing change after the dull, grey winter.

February Photo Challenge

I know, we are into March now, but I lost the plot a little with the photo challenge towards the end of the month. I found I didn't take photographs that fitted the prompts during the month and ended up posting some holiday snaps from last summer. Even so I missed out on some days. It was good to do this challenge with Tash from Vintage Pretty and interesting that we had similar approaches to some of the prompts though I don't think she missed any out like I did.

I am going to end with the last two days and again I am using photographs from last years holiday.

day 27 - me

There I am hiding behind my camera. After our escorted tour of southern Iceland, we had a few days on our own in Reykjavik. My husband wanted to go whale watching and I spent some time on my own exploring the town.
I walked, explored, took photographs, visited bookshops and the farmers' market, drank coffee, had a picnic lunch, looked at knitting wool and drank more coffee - all very "me" activities.

In case you are wondering what I was photographing, here are some pictures of the amazing Harpa building, a concert hall right by the harbour in Reykjavik.

It is a stunning building, both form the outside

and on the inside.

day 28 - reflection

This picture was taken the same day as I was waiting for my husband to return from his whale watching trip. It was a lovely warm sunny day and I chose this photograph to remember the warmth of the sun in the midst of our dull, grey, wet winter.