This sundowner view from the allotment tells me something has definitely changed. It was taken from my polytunnel doorway at 6.17 p.m. three days ago. Goodness. Still light after six o’clock! Spring must have sprung.
And yesterday, the last day of the month, it was suddenly tee-shirt-warm, blue skies above and wood pigeons cooing. A shock-reverse after days of chilling winds and passing hail. I watched the buzzards wheeling in wide arcs over Townsend Meadow behind the house, their haunting calls one to one. Around the place tree buds were swelling, daffodils doing their full-on gold, while over in the Linden Field the school kids were playing football, and the pre-school kids were swinging on the playground swings while their mums nattered together. For all the world it looked like Planet Normal. Who’d’ve thought it.
But then we should not have been fooled into thinking it is actually spring yet. The weather people did warn us there would be more cool days and frosty nights to come. And true to the prognostications, April has arrived cool and dull. It’s now a case of cherishing the blossoms however we can: blackthorn, cherry, japonica and pussy willow, celandines, primroses, wild violets and windflower wood anemones, and in Shadwell woods, the just emerging buds of Spanish bluebells. There will be warmer days to come. There will!
Tish Farrell 
The tree in blossom in the second shot is beautiful.
It’s a real star that tree; some sort of ornamental cherry. And the cricket club lawn mower shed behind it!
Lovely signs of Spring, Tish
Thanks, Sue. Not sure where the spring weather went today. Flipping shivery in Shropshire.
It’s been a little cooler here, and will get more so over the course of the next few days
Beautiful shots Tish and yes we were momentarily fooled by the sudden warmth.
We were fooled!
It’s all happening now, I feel sorry for all the flowers that have been fooled into opening so quickly, they are going to have a short sharp shock come Monday!
Yes, and I’m dithering around with my tomato and pepper seedlings, which I probably shouldn’t have started off so soon. Our conservatory is in a frost pocket, so they may have to come back indoors.
And cherish them you have! I love that cherry and the shed too 🙂 🙂
The cherry and the shed is my favourite too. The other day when I first clapped eyes on the blossom from across the Linden Field it looked like some magic luminous cloud had landed there.
🙂 🙂
I started out trying to remember which shot I liked the best and although the tree in bloom is so delightful, I enjoyed all the others as well. It’s 91F here today, so I’d be happy to send you about 10 degrees Fahrenheit if I could. Thanks for the beauty and welcome to April.
janet
Would love to send you some of our coldness, Janet. Trade you for a bit of heat. Happy Easter!
And to you as well.
We have been as fooled as you have – but beautiful photos of lovely spring flowers…they will continue coming! Happy Easter to you.
And happy Easter to you too, A-C. And you’re right about the flowers. We humans may be shivering but they keep on opening. Though I must say yesterday when I went to take some more photos of the wood anemones they were all closed up and hanging their heads. More sunshine needed.
I love the grand avenue of trees. Reaching to the sky. So majestic.
Hello Marie. The Linden Walk is one of our local treasures, whatever the season. The lime trees take a while to get going in spring but soon we’ll have a leafy arcade full of lime blossom scent.
i liked the photos of trees and plant
A lovely gallery of spring blossom Tish. But what a shock for them with the sudden weather change. After a few perfect weather days over here Easter is going to be a very wet one, but not cold. Hope you are having a happy Easter and keeping warm
Thanks for all those kind thoughts, Pauline. Happy days to you and Jack.
Beautiful beautiful images Tish. I hope your seedlings survived the drop in temperatures.
So far so good. I have things under fleece. The coldest nights will be Monday-Tuesday. But it’s not set to last.
Hope they’re surviving ok.
Snow on the rooflights this morning – only a sprinkle, but can report that the seedlings are still looking perky. Colder tonight though.
Fingers crossed!
Beautiful, Tish. Happening (gardening) days.
Thank you, Tracy. ‘Happening days’. There’s a good phrase.
Sometimes autocorrect makes me look clever! Haha.
It was obviously reading your inner thoughts 🙂
So pretty!
Thanks, Jennie.
It’s the same here – spring one day winter again the next. Winter has felt long this year, but now we have daffs and hyacinth and grape hyacinth and violets. It will get warm again. It will!
Alison
We have brilliant sun today, but a sort of icy breath on the air as if it’s passed over a glacier. It seems to be becoming a permanent feature of our spring months, though rather chillier this year I feel.
I too look with perhaps excessively optimistic hopes of a springtime longer than two hours. We just don’t get the season. You get a couple of hours, once described as exactly enough time to go shopping and buy a bathing suit — and then, it’s summer. Meanwhile, it’s still freezing and below at night, so I can’t put any plants outside until the frosts are done.
Every year Garry looks around and wistfully asks if maybe THIS year, we’ll have spring. But so far, in his 51 years in Massachusetts, it has yet to happen. We still hope.
Ah, we stalwart hopers!