Coping with Crutches, The Delights of Spring

The spring flowers are coming into their glory now, though I am not able to get out to view them unfortunately thanks to my hobbled state. Crutches are not the ideal means of locomotion around the farm. I'm now in the second week of using them and have found that any uneven or loose surface is very frightening which limits my range considerably as our yard is very uneven and on a slight slope. My one or two forays beyond the house and garden have been difficult so I'm tending to stay put. Just getting around the house has its own problems as there are little steps all over the place and our one bathroom is up a staircase with a tight turn in it. Still, I'm coping and there are only 5 more weeks (!) to go before the cast should come off...and believe me I'm counting the days!
Moan over, now praise for the Farmer. He is being marvellous and has taken over all the cooking (I can't stand or walk without the crutches so cooking or anything else is impossible) and he is a good cook. Our super daughter-in-law is great, coming in every day to do house-work-y stuff for me. Friends and neighbours have been so kind bringing flowers, books and dvds as well as conversation and so on the whole I'm being thoroughly spoilt.

Today there is gentle rain from heaven which the Farmer is very pleased about as he and the Sons ahve been so busy all week sowing grass seeds and doing a lot of field work in the lovely weather that we had. This soft rain is perfect for the seeds and we should see a fine haze of green across the fields before too long.

The first swallows arrived last week, somewhat later than usual but they are now settled in and can be seen swooping in and out of the farm buildings building the nests for their first brood.
Many of trees are still quite bare though the oaks are coming into leaf and well before the ash so will we have dry summer as predicted by the old saying
'Oak before Ash we're in for a splash.
Ash before Oak we're in for a soak.'
The blackthorns are now in flower with their lacy white blossoms contrasting beautifully agains the still dark grey and purple of the otherwise leafless tres and bushes in the hedgerows.
Bumblebees are busy everywhere in the garden and early butterflies have been seen out in the sunshine. I've seen tortoiseshells, orange-tips and a couple of peacocks flittering about.
Most of the daffodils and narcissus are over now and the bluebells are coming into flower now with their amazing splashes of vivid blue lighting up dark corners of shade under trees and hedges and of course the primroses and cowslips are appearing and not just at the edges of fields and in the hidden corners of the farm but in my garden too. The wild garlic is also emerging and we are gathering it for a lovely addition to salads. Cheese and wild garlic sandwiches are delicious.