A sunny walk with a Robin

A camellia.  A little dog-eared but still beautiful.  I just love that crown of yellow stamen balls of pollen

Last weekend somebody put a plug in the rain and stoked up the fires to produce a beautiful day, cleaving its way unexpectedly through the endless misery that has been the British winter so far.  When you hear that the weather in the UK is bad, they aren't lying.  Misery.  Three solid months of mornings when you wake up and look out the window and think 'eugh'.  Needless to say on this one glorious day I was out of that door like a shot, no second invitation needed.  I planted a few seeds and then set out for a little walk round my nearest National Trust property Wakehurst Place.

Seed heads in the light 

While it felt like Spring was in the air, it most certainly hadn't sprung as the trees were bare and the scenery a tad bleak.  Nice, but bare.  Even still the golden sun warmed the cockles of my little heart, and I managed to get a picture of this little guy!

What a breast.  Very impressive

Isn't he gorgeous?!  I spotted him in the middle of a bush hopping about and immediately whipped out my camera for a snap.  Almost as if in response to me stuffing my camera in the bush he sat nice and still, giving me the perfect photo opportunity.  Only the camera wouldn't focus and the panic was creeping in as the inevitable moment that he got bored drew nearer, and still it wouldn't focus.  But at the last moment I got him in all his glory!

Imagine this heading towards you and you don't have any bread to give them...

There were a fair few birds about actually.  Down by the bottom lake people were being accosted by flocks of ducks that powered across the water like mini speed boats towards any likely suspect who might have a pocket full of bread.  I did enjoy watching a pack of 25 ducks like a little pack of billed bullies muddling around a lady's legs.  She was stuck like an island surrounded by a sea of webbed feet and feathers.

There were of course a few flowers here and there, including this crazy number.  This is a Hamamelis, or a witch hazel in lay-man terms.  I just love the way this plant flowers.  Middle of winter, bare branches and then these luminous yellow explosions like zizzy legged spiders clinging to the branches. I love anything that doesn't flower in a too ordered way. untidy is good in my book.

I thought these were rather pretty as well.  There is a whole field of crocus right next to the entrance that doesn't appeal to me particularly, but these were covering a bank above a pond on either side of a set of stairs.  With the light in the distance I thought they looked as pretty as a picture.  It is lovely being able to put up pictures of bright colours like purple, rather than onions and soil for months.

Colour! 

I will definitely be returning to Wakehurst before long as it has such great spring plants that mainly aren't out yet, but this little taste of Spring was a welcome glimpse of the end of this misery.