Spring snow

This year has been quite unusual as regards the flowering of spring flowers.  Has Blackthorn Winter been and gone or is it still to come?  I have not noticed the abundance of sloe blossom this year or is it that the hedges have all been cut back last winter?

Another sunny day.  T busy unblocking field drains that have been blocked with some mysterious "root system" which seems to live in the dark without any shoots.  If they are not cleared many of the fields have large damp patches where the rainwater gathers and settles on top.  This makes the  growing and tending of arable crops difficult on this heavy clay.