The first photo was taken on April 23rd while on a dog walk along a local disused canal. The weather was very warm for the time of year and beautifully sunny; other than the sound of birdsong and the occasional bleat of a sheep in the nearby fields it was very quiet and peaceful along the canal and all around me there were signs of spring developing, though most of the trees still had quite some way to go before they came into full leaf.
During the following ten days the weather gods threw down every bit of bad weather they could think of and it only started to come nice again last Friday; the weekend has been gloriously warm and sunny so I've been back out on long walks around the local area with the dogs. Today I walked along the same canal and the second photo, taken from almost the same spot as the first, shows what a change there's been in only sixteen days - the trees were bursting with new life and all around me everything was completely green.
According to the weather forecast - if it's right - the rest of the week is going to be good so I'll be out every day with the dogs and the camera looking for other local photo opportunities, though I'll be saving the shots to keep the blog ticking over during the winter. And as for the housework at the moment - well, I can do that when it's raining, the current sunshine is far too good to miss.