Down by the Riverside

There's much to do in the house and in the garden but I've been itching to go walking in the fields since the good weather arrived at the weekend.  So I skived off for an hour or so this afternoon.  The river banks have been "tidied up" by the council in this field, as you can tell by the piles of wood chippings left at regular intervals.  This has rather spoiled the footpath as although you can't see in this photo, the ugly industrial buildings and council yards along the opposite bank are much in evidence now they are no longer screened by trees and undergrowth.

These three little chaps were certainly on a mission to get from A to B as quickly as possible!  I kept overtaking them as they dallied now and then in the shallows, but in next to no time they were there again paddling away as fast as they could. 

There's nothing as spring-like and sunshiny as a Celandine - they are like little candles lighting up the hedgerows.

I love to see a ploughed field all ready for planting.  I wonder what will grow here this year.

You know its a good day when you can see the moon lit up by the sun.  Its been evident in the daytime sky for the past three days.

And the sky has been that intense blue you only get in the colder months of the year.  Worth a little frost at night don't you think!

For the rest of the week I've promised myself I'll spend all the time I can tidying up the ravages of the winter and recent storms in the garden but I'm glad I couldn't resist the call of the fields today.

And I have been a bit productive too.  These little corsage brooches I made with Mothers Day in mind.  I found the pattern in Nicki Trench's book Crochet with Flowers.  If you like Nicki's patterns as much as I do you might be interested to know she has recently started a Crochet Club.  I thought we would be getting an exclusive pattern every month and special offers on yarn etc but today I was delighted to find out we will be receiving the yarn to make this month's pattern too - a small corsage similar to this one.  There's still time to join and get the pattern and yarn yourself if you are quick.  :)