Rosemary for remembrance

The promised sunny intervals failed to materialise today, quite depressing after the spring sunshine earlier this week. To add insult to injury the camera battery expired while out for a walk this afternoon.

The light was failing when I went out to pick a sprig of rosemary for the garlic and rosemary roast potatoes (thanks Delia), and I spotted this little group of Ladybirds high in the bush on one of the old stems. There have been hundreds of them emerging from their winter shelters underneath vegetation earlier in the week, but today there have been hardly any. Every spring I am amazed at how many there are, and wonder how many aphids they will consume over the coming months. Last year there were very few greenfly and the broad beans were largely free of the usual blackfly attack, but I expect the ladybirds will have their work cut out again this year following the mild winter. I just wish something would develop an appetite for Lily beetles, though a daily search and squash routine curbed the worst of their excesses last year...