Spring has sprung...

Hiya
I've not been too well of late, hence the lack of photos and blog posts. But I'm hoping to put a nasty chest virus and arthritic knees behind me soon.
So here comes: first butterfly of the year; nearly the first snowdrops of the season; definitely the first crocuses this spring -- plus a dog and a view, not necessarily in this order:
This monarch [wrong, see comment!! -- it was a Small Tortoiseshell, L: Aglais urticae -- "u." because the caterpillar loves nettles] fluttered past my window. When I went out half an hour later, it sat on the edge of one of the steps in our close (staircase), whence I coaxed it onto my hand. It seemed to like it there, in the sun, staying for quite a while before taking off and coasting away.
Fifteen minutes after this I met a friend for coffee at the fantastic Oban Chocolate Company. The view across a millpond-smooth Oban Bay was dazzling:
Later, in my friend's garden:
Spring has sprung -- wouldn't you agree?

Looking back -- hot-air balloons!

Hello again!

Now that I have almost instant online access again, I'm all fired up to feed this blog with a few photos. Here's a short series of a wonderful surprise on my last Saturday morning in Bern, when a flock (?) of hot-air balloons drifted past in perfect weather just as I stepped out onto my little balcony. Needless to say, I rushed back indoors to get my camera.
The fewest I had in one shot were twelve, the most were 27, but all in all I counted at least 35 hot-air balloons airborne in a beautiful, light-hearted procession up in the air.

Moved -- in many ways!

Hello again

This is my first post as a hopefully "true" Obadian, someone who lives, works, breathes, laughs, eats etc in Oban. :)

The move went swimmingly: soooo many helpful people -- I am amazed and grateful and happy. When I got here, I found loads of mail: greeting cards and flowers from friends wishing me a good start. I am deeply moved.

Same goes at this end: lots of helpful souls lending me things, making my beginnings here a joy. Broadband internet access, however, is not in place yet -- the BT people messed things up and it'll be May 19 until I can really get going.

At least Oban has a great pub, The Lorne Pub, which offers free WiFi access from opening until 5 PM. It's not an ideal working environment, but at least it gets me out of the house.

The weather here is absolutely gorgeous. No pix just yet -- battery on this thing is running low so I must go.

Ciao for now!

First Day of Spring, 2007

Hello again

The past few days have been a bit mad, at least weather-wise. I'm super busy but couldn't not take a few photos to share some of this madness with you people out there. Have fun!

This is what I woke to yesterday morning:
And these are what I came across on my way to work, also yesterday morning:
It's hard to see but there's actually a little cap of snow on almost each one of these magnolia blossoms!

Remember that wild plum shrub I spoke about recently? Well, here it is again, laden with snow:
No, not daffies but some kind of lovely, rose-shaped yellow flower on a green shrub.
Last year's rosehips still looking good -- that yellow-flowering shrub provides a bit of background.

A friend of mine -- don't know what's become of her because I haven't heard for ages and ages -- is/was a country singer. One of her lovely songs was "Roses in the Snow". These are my take on the subject. I simply love the delicate greeny-yellowy-pink colour of fresh rose leaves:
Later in the day, temperatures rose and the snow melted. But this morning, this is the view I had breakfast to:
It got worse before it got better:
This is a lovely note on which to end the first real spring entry in my blog -- the magnolia outside our office looking pretty good in a burst of sunshine about an hour ago. I won't tell you that, as I type, the weather has turned nasty again and a harsh wind is driving thin snow in, obscuring the view from my desk. It's just gone 4:30PM and I have to turn on the lights as though this were still January. :)

Springtime in Berne

Hello again!

The world is full of bad news, apart from the fact that one of my great film heroes is 80 today. Congratulations, Sidney Poitier! Watching him in In the Heat of the Night changed my life, literally.

A few days ago I mentioned the gorgeous view from my office window. I've taken I don't know how many photos already. It's a bit like watching the sea -- the same but different all the time. Well, here are my latest photos of an evening last week. If you click on the photos you should be able to see a bigger version:

(The horizontal white streak in the foreground is an Intercity train leaving Berne.)

This afternoon, towards the end of yet another gloriously sunny and unseasonally warm day, I took a photo of the magnolia tree outside our office building (yes, on the other side, which gets the afternoon sun). Here it is:

The buds are burgeoning. A few more days like this and it'll be in bloom! In the little patch of garden next door, the snowdrops are almost over:

Thanks for visiting. See you again, soon! By then I'm hoping to have a few photos of crocuses, which are also almost over. And in another patch of grass I saw daffodil leaves spiking tall, and fat buds atop equally fat stalks. When is Easter this year? 6 and a half more weeks away!