April is here

The sun has shone on a number of occasions over the last week or so and, when the wind has died down a little, there has been some real warmth in the air. Shorts have been seen on Linlithgow High Street!

Seriously, it has been lovely. The garden is in complete confusion with daffodils coming into flower whilst the cherry blossom is in full flood, the stellata magnolia is knocking spots off anything else that hurls itself into flower, and the garden is glowing. The camelia has been damaged by the frosts and the damp but, somehow, all of the flowers below waist height have been saved whilst those higher up have been scorched and dried out. The dog house has had its annual spring clean and Saari, Cosimo and CJ spent some hours sleeping there earlier in the week. The whole place had been thoroughly tested by Casper, Wren and Poppy at the weekend, and found to be acceptable. Now we have three children prepared to fight three dogs over ownership!

The pond too is coming back into its own. The filter was cleaned and switched on again a few days ago - and the water remained cloudy. I put this down to the size of the pond and, for once, prepared to wait. That was until I did some tidying around the greenhouse and found that we had had some small furry visitors living beneath the slabs - I found this out when the one I was standing on gave way and sank into a tunnel beneath. Yes, they were back - only this time they have eaten through the live electrical cable. Which explained why the water was brown. With the help of Geraldine and the purchase of a 3amp fuse, we are now back in business and the water is clearing nicely. What to do about the unexpected guests is another question - that I don't propose to discuss here, you will be glad to know.

We are changing shows in the gallery ready for Saturday when On the Waterfront will open. Seaside images with blue skies and boats and figures in summer shirts. Colour really, that is what it is all about - let's get away from the winter greys! Saturday is also the day on which I shall be donning the thick gloves and joining in the big spring clean up around the town and the loch. There always seems to be a competition to fill the largest number of bin bags - I think I would rather live in the town which filled the smallest number, but I won't be making that case too loudly on Saturday. It could be taken the wrong way entirely!