Darling buds

If April is the cruelest month, then May has to be the kindest. It's my favourite month in the calendar when everything is green and lush and full of promise and the evenings are light and getting lighter, still a few weeks before we've turned the corner and the days, imperceptibly at first, begin to shorten. But out with such depressing thoughts. 

It's good to be complete again. Gill has been visiting her parents in Yorkshire so I made sure the house was spick and span for her return. I don't fare well when she's away. We walked with Pippa, down by the Wey, hoping to see some orange-tip butterflies but it was a bit too breezy. I brought some dried teasels back for the garden, hoping to attract the goldfinch which we haven't seen for a while. I've run the colour version alongside. Don't ask me why I prefer the black and white.