I’ve a little…

…spring teapot that I’ve been holding off buying for over a month to see whether I really wanted it.  Turns out I did.

Now I’m going to go hang out at Grand Purl Baa.

 

Hill o’ Fare

Last weekend, hubby and I woke up early (6am on Sunday…and we don’t have kids.  Ouch.), saw that the sun was shining and decided to go hillwalking — something we haven’t done for months and months and months and possibly over a year ago.

By the time we arrived at Hill o’ Fare, the sun had scarpered, but it was still lovely and warm, so we pushed on and it was well worth it.  Not only did we find out just how out-of-shape we truly are, but I found ACRES of blueberry bushes.  See all those young-green bushes?  Yep.  Blueberries.

How happy will I be come blueberry season?

Then halfway up the hill we came across a slow stream that pooled and there we discovered that rabbit tails actually grow on reeds.

And, at the top of the hill, not only could you see the whole of Garioch (pronounced GEAR-ee — don’t ask me why — with an almost rolled ‘r’), but there was also a plinth!

Today’s fun: Aberdeenshire spelling vs. pronunciation – Doric Call Centre

 

Lilacs…

…are my absolute favouritest spring flower…

…and I’m so glad they’re finally here.

 

Spring Swells III

Still haven’t looked it up.

Sycamore

Rowan

Plum

Lilac

Holly

 

Spring Swells II

Photographed 18th April (For the photos taken on the April 8th, go here.)

Sycamore

Rowan

Plum

Brain with wings

Blue-flowered weed of some ilk
(Bob has told me the name, but I have forgotten it.)

And does anyone else think this thsitle resembles a spider?

 

No Room at the Inn

Back home, with the spring thaw is when I remember mice coming into the house. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this previously. As soon as it dried out a bit, no more mouse problem. In the Autumn, it was the spiders, arriving when we brought the wood into the basement for the winter. Well, it’s very much spring over here. We don’t have a mouse problem (touch wood), but the spiders have decided there’s definitely a niche that needs to be filled. Over the winter, I evicted — on average — a spider a fortnight. Possibly it was the same spider. Maybe it had friends. I can’t really say. During the past couple of weeks, things have stepped-up a bit and one gets the boot every two or three days. Last night, I had the joyless task of evicting not one, but two of the beasts within 10 minutes of each other to the background chorus of supportive husband’s giggles.

I have the eviction routine down pat. One of the two pint glasses in the house serves to trap the spider against the wall. The pint glass is used because a) through it I can see where the spider is at all times — this is very important, b) it’s the biggest glass in the house — meaning there is the greatest distance between the spider and its potential escape route, and c) it has straight sides, tapering out to a wide mouth which comes in handy during the final stage of eviction outlined below. Carefully, I then slide a stiff piece of paper, which I’ve taken from it’s permanent (easily reached) home from on top of the microwave, beneath the spider so that the beast’s contact with the wall is broken and it falls against the glass. Before it can gain purchase on the paper, I quickly turn the glass upright, making sure to keep the paper tightly clamped against the mouth of the glass. (Yes, I know the spider can’t get enough purchase to scurry up the side of the glass. That’s not the point.) At arms length and with great respect, the spider, the glass and the heavy paper are carried ceremoniously to the open front door where, with a flick of the wrist and a twist of the glass, the spider is flung out into the wilderness to fend for itself. I’ve noticed that if it’s a still night, I can hear it when it hits the ground.

I’ve been much more vigilant about this since I noticed many of the spiders’ abdomens are much larger than they were a couple of weeks ago. I get the heebbie-jeebies just thinking about one of them deciding the north corner of the bedroom ceiling is the perfect place to lay eggs.

Tegeneria-domestica
The usual suspect

Does anyone else feel itchy?

 

Spring Swells

Sycamore

Rowan

Plum

Lilac

Beech

Goodness knows what. Beautiful red berries in the autumn, though.

 

long. johns.

I’m wearing long-johns right now. The daffodils are out. Baby rabbits are hopping around (we like to think of them, collectively, as hasenpfeffer). The birds are a-wooing. And, yet, I am sitting in my house wearing long-johns, wool socks, my fluffy winter vest, and a toque, plus other various sundries. (Okay, I’m not wearing a toque, but that’s only because the heating has been on for an hour.) Why am I doing this? I am doing this because of the spring snow. Spring snow which is being swirled around by the gale-force winds howling through the air, where it is slammed into the earth, the impact of which turns it into a pool of slush and mud. *sigh* Last Saturday I was running around in a tank-top, shorts and bare feet. (I can do the bare feet thing right now because the nettles haven’t quite popped their stinging, hairy, little leaves out of the ground.)