Love of Spring

Right after the first time we cut the grass this spring, we had snow. My initial reaction was disbelief.  Then I realised that it is spring.  This happens. It's rubbish, but it happens.

Now I've cut the grass two more times.  Nothing harsher than a spring frost since.  

Yesterday and today have been a delight as I spend time in the garden.

I've started digging the vegetable plot.  If it stays dry tomorrow, I'll actually get it finished and ready for planting.

The little greenhouse is all tidy and ready for the little tomato and cucumber plants to be stuck in there.  I can't wait for homegrown tomatoes!!

I heard the cuckoo calling yesterday as I pulled marsh reeds from our garden.  Returning swallows flew past.   Our swallows aren't here yet, but I've seen others flying over.

orange tip butterfly

pied wagtail

longtailed tit

Zebra spider (a jumping spider)

Here are a few visitors to the place (everybody does gardening with a camera in their pocket, right?

Night Dives

I was really unsure about them at first.  Afraid of the dark, but underwater.  Now I love them.  I may even prefer them to daytime dives.

Giant moray going out on a hunt

I love how the daytime fish go find a hole in which they can spend the night.  Parrotfish enrobe themselves in a bubble to protect their fishy scent from attracting the patroling moray eels and sharks.

remnants of a parrot fish's mucus bubble

On morning dives, we will sometimes come across the remnants of those mucus bubbles.

Feather stars starting the show

The feather stars come out at night as well.  They look like an underwater Las Vegas floor show!

basket star

 Basket stars are even more amazing.  I keep having to remind myself that they are animals, not plants.

The man of the place and I had one particularly great dive at dusk during our trip.  We saw dolphins and sharks almost at the same time.

bottlenose dolphins

silky shark