Back to rain. At least the aquilegia brightens up the day a little...

The iris are starting to open up...

Most of teh dandelions have gone but there's still plenty of yellow around; yellow rattle, cowslips and buttercups all flowering on the front 'lawn'.

The dog rose has started to blossom and the local bumble bees sound delighted. The shape of the flower amplifies the buzzing of the bees and allows them to be heard from a few meters away.

No filters, no editing, and still I feel like the lens never does the colour of the azalea flowers the justice they deserve...

There are quite a few bumblebees at the camassia today.

This pair have been at it on the kitchen window since breakfast this morning. They take their time!

The van now has kettle and cooking capability and that is all kinds of amazing!

The chives are just starting to flower. The ornamental alliums won't be far behind them.

Once again, the colony boxes at the gable end of the house have residents!

Looks like rain, Ted.

We still get nightly visits from the foxes. No sign of cubs yet but it was St. Patricks weekend when Mrs. Fox disappeared for a while so I feel if they're going to visit for the first time, hopefully it will be any night now.

Frosty start in East Galway this morning as the dogs check for any food left behind by the foxes. There'll be no planting out for a few weeks yet; last frost date is mid-May...

Getting along just grand!

There's a lot of speedwell starting to show up in the front 'lawn'. Really nice, tiny little flowers.

The little one is growing in confidence and learning to give back as good as he gets!

Last week it was pear blossoms, this week it's the apples.

There's a stream 100m from the house. There's trout in it, like the small one in this photo. They used to get much bigger but water quality in Ireland isn't what it used to be. The amount of filamentous green algae present in April tells me there's too many nutrients getting in.