Bank Holiday weekend

Ah, bank holidays! Why can't every weekend have one? Ours has been a good mix of home and away, practical and pleasure.

It started on Friday evening with a charity belly dancing event. I wore this tunic which I found in a charity shop this week for a bargain £3! A lovely evening though maybe not what I was expecting. I definitely didn't expect to find that the only drinks were mint tea and water!

Saturday, I went to the theatre with two friends to see I capture the castle. It was a musical production and very good. Later, Chickpea and I watched the film as she'd missed the play because she was out being fitted for a bridesmaid dress. Yes she's being a bridesmaid for her best friend whose getting married in October.

Bank holidays usually mean baking and this one was no exception. One of my all-time favourite recipes, Delia's ginger cake with lemon icing. Yum! And even better the day after when the ginger has had more time to develop.

Less successful were the waffles made in my new cast iron pans. The mixture stuck and burned. Back to the drawing board and the internet to find out how to use the pans properly as the instructions on the box were clearly no help.

This seems to be one of my most common positions on bank holidays: constantly washing up! All that baking and scrubbing of burnt pans. And yes, I still use the old-fashioned method. No dishwashers here.

Water of a different kind in my latest jigsaw. Not my usual subject but I enjoyed this one with all the patterns and colours. I always have a jigsaw on the go and have already started the next one - with a picture of ice cream!

More water and the grebes are back! I was really hoping they'd return after raising two beautiful stripey babies last summer. They're much earlier this year though as it was towards the end of 30 days wild in June when the babies hatched last year. She's been on the nest a couple of weeks now so it looks like we'll be having grebelings before long. So exciting!

There are already babies on the lake though - the first ducklings of the year born earlier this week. Eight here but she only had seven yesterday. I never get tired of watching ducklings.

And so to today and a walk in the woods. Carpets of wild garlic...

...and bluebells.

And smaller patches of wood anemones. My favourite time of year to be in the woods.

Especially when being entertained by water-loving dogs bounding around and chasing sticks.

Back home, I've put up a hanging basket bracket this afternoon from which I'll be hanging bird feeders. I only had a fat ball to hand until I can get a feeder. If you look closely you might be able to see a yellow daffodil in the background. That's also a feeder but the birds have steadfastly refused to have anything to do with it. There are sparrows nesting in next door's eaves and they pop by each evening for a dust bath before bed, squabbling over the best spots. So cute!

And that was our weekend. The cherry blossom has almost blown away now but it's been absolutely glorious this spring.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too. Not long until the next one! xx