Country living

It was time to cut down the daffodil leaves under the front wall, so Dave got out his scythe.

and found a nest.

The eggs were large and I thought they might belong to the annoying pheasants that frequent our lane. They're annoying because of the noise they make. Don't you find that noise annoying?

I wasn't sure about the eggs so I asked my big sister, who texted back: 'Partridge or pheasant. There would normally be 8-12 in a clutch I think.'  I guess next door's cat had scared off the hen mid-lay.

Dave brought them inside and washed them and left them on the worktop by the butter dish.

'Are you going to blow these eggs?' I asked.

'No.'

'What are you going to do with them then? Eat them?'

'No. And I'm not going to hatch them like the girl in Fly Away Home, either. They were cold when I found them. Next thing you know I'd be dressed like a pheasant and flying over Matlock.'

Two photos I took on my blog break were through the bedroom windows - east and south, on May 17th. 

Just three weeks later most of the trees are fully out, and the verges on the lanes round here are high with cow parsley.

This is just round the corner from our house.

And this is the next lane, the one where I clear the blocked gullies in the winter -

And I took this walking home to our house last evening...

Heavenly, isn't it?