V E Day Blossom

Some more fine weather over the last few days, has brought out another wave of tree blossom. The Blackthorn and Cherry trees have given way to Hawthorn...

with thousands of individual flowers contributing to a Spring spectacle.

Horse Chestnut trees are in full bloom right now also.

The classic 'candelabra' flower spikes are well worth taking a closer look at. From a distance, they can appear to be plain and white, but closer inspection reveals splashes of reds and yellows, enough to rival any other flower.

This particular specimen, was growing close to our path along the 'Donkey Walk' a couple of days ago and had some very convenient, low-hanging flowers.

Moving away from flowers for a moment, we were delighted to have a visitor to our garden a few days ago. This fabulous male Sparrowhawk turned up and stayed for several minutes on our fence.

Ever alert, he fixed his killer gaze on any small bird which dared to fly by. Bad news for most of the local bird life, but great for us, to see such a stunning bird in our back garden.

And it's V E Day today. 75 years since the end of the second World War and time to be thankful to those who gave so much, so that we have the opportunity to enjoy all of this countryside and wildlife. Time to remember those who went to fight - and didn't come back. Most of us will have stories of family members who gave everything. In my case, it was my paternal grandfather Tom Wear who was killed in action just a few weeks before the end of the war, on 23 February 1945, aged just 35.