Bobbing along ...

Yippee! First sighting of Mr Robin for the year! Happily sitting on Ed's fence, proudly displaying his red breast, occasionally turning round to make sure everyone can see him. Heaven knows where he thinks the paparazzi are hiding!

Later in the year I'll be able to watch the blue tits nesting (in the cherry blossom tree behind Ed's fence), and if we're lucky, there'll be an appearance of the thrushes with their spotty chests and last year's apparent new arrivals, the goldfinches.

I do love living next to the park, and having a study that looks out over it. Can be distracting when I'm meant to be working.

Thankfully, Frodo the furry feline (who adopted us this summer, having moved to the area in with the family two doors away, the summer before last) appears to have opted for staying warm and cosy inside. Frodo likes magpies. And mice. And possibly lots of other things we haven't seen evidence of yet. The magpies - yes, he's had two - left just a pile of lengthy tail and wing feathers after he'd finished - burp!!

Best thing about Frodo's arrival is that Clio the tortoiseshell has lost a considerable amount of weight - she previously looked like a cloud (appropriately described by Ed), but is now scampering around like a kitten, despite being 14 years old.

I've been researching digitil cameras a little this morning, in between doing a bit of online grocery shopping (a nice local supplier, who delivers and sources locally - mostly within around 100 miles, which I hope will supplement the monthly meat purchase from the local farmer's market). I thought it would be slightly problematic - all this guff about megapixels, memory capacity, zooms and battery life - but I didn't expect to start finding colour co-ordinated cameras. OMG, the world has gone fashion accessory crazy! Why on earth would anyone want a brown cased camera?! Or an orange one? And don't even get me started on baby pink and blue!!!

Meanwhile Mr Robin has finally left the fence and decamped into the sycamore tree ... :)