New Construction

So that census report I just sent back is already outdated; I think last year's robin couple has come back to stay with us again this year. It might be a different pair, but the new nest has been constructed in the exact same location on the same branch of the spruce. (I removed the old nest last year after it was abandoned.) It's currently empty, and not quite as impossibly-neat-looking as a robin nest usually is, though it's a tightly-woven little thing. No sign of the contractor.

On Pushing Through, and Coming Back

I didn't clear away the oak leaves last fall, but that didn't stop the tulips. All over the bed, they just keep unfurling, ever so slowly, and go not around the obstacle but straight through. The force is with them, the one that through the green fuse drives the flower.
(Oh look it up; you're in front of the internet anyway...)
The lizards have woken up and started to scamper, everything's coming up green, and crowds of robins are urging me to "cheer up! cheer up!" as they search for real estate to settle down on. I tell ya, it's like a Hallmark card at times.
Things have been quiet here since the end of the summer, when a spanner was thrown in the works, and I've spent the last six months being inspected, resected and injected. It's not quite over, but it will be soon, and trust me, when it is, we'll be getting back up to speed here. For what that's worth.
In the meantime, here's a snowdrop in the Clark Botanic Garden, on the first full day of spring.