In Search of the Sun

Well I started to write this over a week ago, we had one day of sun and Doris and I caught up on a spot of sunbathing.....








I set off round the farm looking for some cheery signs of spring to lift everyone's spirits. Sadly I couldn't find any at all, just the snowdrops and they're winter flowers really. So I decided to hibernate for another week, only getting up for mealtimes, and try again. To be honest it's like an endless winter in Narnia, I hunted high and low and still no signs of new life.



However while the plants are still dormant the animal life has been quietly putting on weight. My beautiful offspring are about 3 times the size and they're getting really good at that trick of digging up grass with their noses, it's a real skill, they can clear a patch of lawn in minutes. Funnily enough no-one else seems to appreciate their talents....




Those Aylesbury ducks continue to grow before our eyes, I'm wondering whether their legs are going to be able to carry them. Still they've nearly got their adult feathers now so perhaps they'll be able to start going on the moat, a few lengths morning and evening should get them in shape.






Gertie and Grace have now been given the run of the yard and will venture out if the sun does (ie almost never). Georgina prefers to rest in the shed, perfectly positioned so she can reach the feed dish without having to get off her bottom.





Finally in the garden I found a bit of new life, seedlings growing on every available windowsill








potatoes chitting on the shelves







and even some winter salad in the polytunnel, now there's a lovely spot, I wonder if they do them for pigs?








And there in the corner the first vegetables of the year growing nicely - broad beans already in flower. Now I know this is just a personal opinion, but if we ever did have to vote for a vegetable to make extinct, broad beans would have to be near the top of the list wouldn't they? All that growth and the only tasty bit is a few tiny seeds hidden in some awful pods which taste of cotton wool and stick in your teeth. It's a good job they crop before everything else, any later in the year and we'd all walk straight past them and head for some tasty runner beans or peas.





Finally I spotted the first signs of life in the orchard - a bud on a new fruit tree....










And these are buds on the plum trees, sadly I couldn't get a grip with my trotters so I had to take the photo from the ground








And in the garden and courtyard primroses and bulbs have finally made it through the permafrost to flower







And today news reached us from next door that the first sheep has lambed, triplets and all doing well. However despite the signs, I'm still cold, it's still wet and I'm very tempted to go back to sleep or try to find some winter sun. Wake me up when it gets above 25 degrees out there....
Boris