There has been a bit of a change in the weather. The last few days have been beautiful but with a tricky wind from the East, called the Bises, which means the air is clear as crystal, but it can be cold in the wind. Today the wind has changed and is coming from the south/south west, bringing moist and hot air up from Spain and Portugal. Insects love it. I was checking over the broad beans and had to pick out all the growing tips as the ants were starting to farm black fly on the tender tops of the plants. Fortunately all had more than four sets of flowers/set bean pods so it was the right time to do it. The down side is that I've been feeling like I'm covered in ants ever since!
The warmer than usual spring is bringing on flowers and fruit more quickly than usual. The lady orchid gets more splendid day by day!
I was working at the site with the lake this afternoon - the frogs were making a racket and the carp were loitering. It isn't possible to get a good photo of the carp - I've been trying for years. The best I can do is when they are in a group, being really sinister, and then the photos are the stuff of nightmares. Anyway, I was actually checking the outflow from the lake and looking for tadpoles (mostly eaten now), when I realised I was being watched by one of the giant carp. Probably between 18 and 24 inches long, he watched me until I spoke up (well squeaked in surprise) and then he sank away, probably chortling to himself. He was here...
Our fig tree can have two crops, but most years, the early figs drop off due to a frost. This year the tree is loaded and the tree seems to have decided to sacrifice some in order to keep a respectable number going. In a normal year, any that survive late frosts are ripe in June, but the size of some of these makes me think that May might be possible this year!
Storms are due from about 11pm tonight - bizarrely, after one of the wettest winters, we need the rain!
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