I was surprised to see two Red-legged Partridges (Alectoris rufa) in my garden one morning as I opened the kitchen blinds.
This one had obviously had a bad night.
Please ignore the weedy flowerbed – I have since tidied it up.
Shortly after I took this photo they both flew away.
The variagated Euonymus is looking bright with new leaves.
The Pieris ‘Forest Fire’ has tiny new pink leaves
The Clematis montana ‘Rubens’ I cut back a few weeks ago is showing me that it won’t be beaten.
The Rosemary is still flowering beautifully
The Ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) are flowering.
The flowers are very small and a warm purple colour. Ash trees have separate male and female flowers, mainly on separate trees but there are a few trees that have both male and female flowers but on separate branches! The trees around us are all females and produce thousands of Ash ‘keys’, winged seeds that hang from the trees in bunches in the autumn. My mother has plenty of Ash trees near her house but all hers are males – so no ‘keys’.
A reflective Greylag!
A bumblebee on White Dead-nettle (Lamium album)
A very over-grown corner of our garden. This ditch doesn’t belong to us but is part of the common land between our garden and the road. I expect that no-one will take responsibility for looking after this but if there is a problem with it in the future we will no doubt be asked to deal with it!
The Amelanchier is blossoming.
The Viburnum bodnantense produces dark pink flowers in the spring and pale pink or white flowers during the winter
Wild Cherry blossom (Prunus avium)
Wild Cherry
Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)
Red Saxifrage
A soft pink Tulip
It looks so different depending on the angle from which I photograph it
Tulips
The new leaves of Bristly Ox-tongue (Picris echioides). Another member of the Daisy family.
Crabapple ‘Harry Baker’ flower buds
I had an on-line conversation with a member of the WordPress team a week or so ago and asked about my missing posts. The person who dealt with my enquiry was extremely helpful but was unable to retrieve them. He would have been able to retrieve three old posts I had deleted on purpose but was unable to find the ones that had disappeared! Fortunately, a very dear friend who is an e-mail follower has been saving my posts and has sent all the missing ones to me. When I have the time I may post a page with them on for anyones information.
Thank-you for visiting!
Jane Thorne said:
Ohh Clare, I love these and look at your Cherry blossom….’Hello Spring’ ❤ xXx
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jane! xxx
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Lisa G. said:
Do you ever cook the nettles?
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clarepooley33 said:
No! Some people do cook the stinging nettles and lately it seems to have come back into fashion to use them in all sorts of dishes. Some people also make nettle wine and I have used nettle shampoo before.
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lundygirl said:
i have some bristly ox tongue at the allotment – but it’s on borrowed time! lovely photos.
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clarepooley33 said:
Ours won’t be there for much longer! Thanks Rachel!
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
The partridges are chubby birds. I can’t think of another bird that they remind me of but there must be others they resemble.
The rosemary obviously likes it there. We rarely see it blooming here.
It’s nice to see so much spring happening!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thanks Allen. Many moorland birds look like partridges – grouse, quail etc. The Rosemary is quite happy here. I see Rosemary in other peoples gardens locally and they are all flowering at the moment. Mine is in fairly poor gravelly soil but up close to the house for protection. I took a cutting five years ago and that plant is now as big as its parent.
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quietsolopursuits said:
I really liked the partridge, we don’t have them here, not that species anyway. Your garden contains some beautiful flowers, it must smell heavenly when the weather is right!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jerry. The flowers do smell good though I haven’t noticed the scent much recently because of the cold northerly wind. We have lots of these French Partridges as they are bred locally and then released in time for the shooting season. Not all get shot. I have never seen our native Partridge, the Grey Partridge as they are much scarcer round here.
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colorpencil2014 said:
Lovely photos of a lovely garden but the partridges are the stars! Are they common ? Hope your Sunday was great! xo Johanna
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clarepooley33 said:
Yes thank-you Johanna, my Sunday was very pleasant – also busy, hard work and cold! The partridges are very common. They are bred for shooting, like pheasants are, and then released into the wild in the autumn. A lot of them manage to avoid getting shot and live a good life on our fields and in our gardens.
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Jill Weatherholt said:
You have the most interesting visitors, and the most beautiful garden, Clare.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Jill. 🙂
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tootlepedal said:
Beautiful tulip pictures. Beautiful tulip.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you. I am extremely fond of this one.
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Gallivanta said:
Bravo to the resilient clematis, and bless the friend who saves your posts.
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clarepooley33 said:
Isn’t life wonderful sometimes?
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Aquileana said:
Gorgeous flowers… Plus, I have never seen a Red-legged Partridge
I love each one of the post that you share, dear Clare.
You are lucky to live among these beautiful surroundings…
All my best wishes to you! Aquileana ⭐
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you dear Aquileana, you are very kind! Best wishes to you and I hope you have a good week 🙂 xx
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tintinthorburn said:
Lovely photos. Isn’t spring the best time of the year. Everything is fresh and you know that you have the summer just waiting around the corner.
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clarepooley33 said:
It is lovely! I adore that shiny fresh green that is everywhere – it glows!
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Julie said:
The Red-legged Partridges are a wonderful sight, how lovely to have them visit. I love this time of year, so much fresh and vibrant foliage. And the tree flowers this year seem to be the best I have ever seen.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Julie! Our trees are just beginning to blossom and they are going to be lovely. So many buds!
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Bell of Peace said:
The article lighten my heart. Thank you. http://www.bellofpeace.org
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you!
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Ste J said:
Spring has indeed sprung and it’s about time too! I am glad your posts are coming back to you like chicks coming back to the nest…because nobody ever mentions that!
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clarepooley33 said:
No they don’t! Thank-you Ste J!
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