It's Just As Well..

It is just as well that so many baby fish survived the harsh winter in our ponds because this Heron has become a frequent visitor to a nearby tree and I suspect has already had a few 'fishy take-aways'......

It is also just as well that since Christmas I have been dosing up on vitamins, cutting down on fats and generally trying to get fitter as during some volunteer work with the Old Surrey Downs Project on Thursday and Friday, I twice found myself running across a field in the process of rounding up sheep. Considering I haven't run anywhere (not even for the bus) for many years, I was rather pleased with myself and found it quite liberating...a bit like being a child again. I now have this ridiculous urge to run around in the field behind us, a bit Julie Andrews like in the opening scene of the Sound of Music...it's lucky for the neighbours I can't sing:-))

It's also just as well that the ponies don't seem to like eating Orchid leaves as plenty are now coming up in their field, especially Common Spotted and Twayblades. I can't wait for the flowering season to start. The ponies have done a really good job with their conservation grazing although there is a lot of Hawthorn that is growing up again. I wonder if this will be cut down or whether they will put some other type of grazing animal in, like goats, that may eat more of it than the ponies.

And lastly, it's just as well we have a new computer as my legs ache after all that running around after sheep, so I can now have a lazy day trying to beat the computer at chess:-)