The Merry Month of May

As I look out of my window, May doesn't seem so very merry. There is a mass of thick grey cloud away to the north, and a cold wind blowing intermittent rain showers at the window. Moreover, I've been out of action with a bad headache, and not feeling disposed to be merry at all---
However, we do seem to have turned a corner. It's much warmer than it was, and there was at least one day of welcome sun. All the trees, even the ash and oak, are in leaf, the pear plum and cherry trees are in full bloom, and I've just seen the first apple blossom on my neighbour's trees. The swallows and martins are busy, I've seen the first swifts, and the birds are all carrying food, not nest materials. Every time I look at my garden, I feel happier.

The productive bit of the garden is beginning to shape up too. The vegetable seeds are in, and coming on nicely and there are blossoms on the fruit bushes. Because of the current anxiety about bees,I am trying to take photos of all the bees I see in my garden, and there certainly seem to bee a lot more about this week.

They aren't very bright! This one was trapped in the greenhouse for ages, as unlike wasps, they don't seem to understand glass. Butterflies aren't much better. There was a peacock trapped in there last week, as I tried to waft it towards the vent or the door without success. The warm weather brought out a lot of butterflies. I've seen tortoisehells and peacocks and the first whites.

And I've tried my hand at a more complicated sourdough mix, this time including rye and barley flour. I was really pleased with it - I can see that I'm going to have to make a lot more sourdough in the future!

On the poetry front, I've been working on some of the poems I started in April, and I'm very excited by it. Having to produce so much in such a short time pushed me out of my usual range, and meeting so many good poets at the Dark Mountain Writing Weekend really helped me raise my game.