Project 365 day 107: spring in the orchard

The nicest part of today was a walk round the orchard just before sunset. The best of the day's light had gone, but most of the young fruit trees now have buds opening, and they come in a huge variety of shapes and colours. I would have to consult P's plan, and probably carry it round with me, to know exactly what this is, but I think it's probably some kind of apple - we have a number of varieties of apples, pears, cherries and plums, and a very nice quince. 

The principal entertainment came from the neighbouring sheep field, which now has a shiny new fence, which we hope will prevent invasions of the orchard this year. Trying to herd sheep in my dressing gown and wellies before my morning tea, and sitting for hours one evening guarding a hole in the fence while P tried simultaneously to contact the farmers (who turned out to be out celebrating their golden wedding) and to rustle up materials with which to prevent re-entry by the sheep he had laboriously ushered out, provide stories which, while entertaining, we would rather not repeat. This evening I watched a family of pheasants strutting and foraging, then a posse of lively lambs rushing up and down the field, pausing to bounce on the spot, then changing direction and running back the other way. Then the two groups met. Initially I think the lambs alarmed the pheasants, which ran away a short distance; but some of the lambs seemed fascinated by the movement and ran after them. The lambs returned several times and appeared to be chasing the pheasants, which were too fat or lazy to fly but rushed frenziedly across the field emitting loud squawks. The photos, sadly, were not good enough to convey my hilarity.