I am a creature of habit.  I enjoy the everyday routine and the pattern of days and though our trip was amazing in every way, there is comfort to be found in slipping back into my "normal" life, which suits me very well thank you.  Having arrived home a week last Wednesday morning then, it was good to be able to go to my WI meeting on Thursday night and catch up with the gossip!  The speaker brought boxes and boxes of 1950s things to talk about and prompt discussion.  For me, her arrangement looked remarkably like the state of things I'd left at home...

I had a show to judge last Saturday, so it was an early start to drive over the bridge into Gwent, through thick mist and fog at times.  Thankfully, the exhibits on the theme of "Summer Glory" more than made up for the gloom and a fun night at the opera with our friends finished the day off nicely.

Like everyone else, it seemed, we watched the weather forecasts and waited.  The promise of the "African plume" sounded too good to be true, but suddenly, on Thursday, Spring sprung!

It was as if everything had been waiting, ready to spring into life the minute the sun put in an appearance.  There was an instant greening of the hedgerows, the buds burst open and our garden began to look, well, ok....ish!

There's optimism in the air, we've shed a layer of clothes and put away any thoughts of lighting the stove again this year.  We even opened up the summer house on Thursday afternoon when our small friend came to play, though had to come indoors for some ice cream when we began to get a bit overheated.

The colour of the sky said it all.  There's nowhere more lovely on a sunny day than our own garden and now we are back in the routine, there was just one choice for Saturday lunch...

Old habits, eh?