Yes, Spring has sprung. After what seems like a very long, cold, damp winter in the UK the spring has finally arrived.

I’d almost forgotten what it is like – watering the plants in the evenings after work, cycling home when it’s light, watching the chickens happily bathing in the sunlight and drying out and cleaning up their feathers (harder in the winter). The difference in the garden in just a few weeks is incredible – shoots and green things arriving everywhere you look.

We came through the winter a little worse for wear – poor old Shilpa, the last remaining ginger chicken, carked it from some mystery disease which we think might have been peritonitis. So we’re down to three: Chicken Bhuna, Chicken Madras and Kulfi and have a 50% success rate so far.

Now our plans turn to a proper garden redesign and we’ve ordered a new shed as a starter for that. Lots more planning to do.

I use London’s airports regularly and frequently and despite trying my best to be environmentally friendly I normally have to side in favour of plans to increase capacity for planes in the future – otherwise I’d be being hypocritical.

I also live under the Heathrow flight path and similarly prefer not to hypocritically condemn the flight noise when I know I use those noisy services myself…

…but the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano eruption which is currently preventing all air traffic in the UK today and possibly for the next week or so and it’s resulting silence in the garden is surprisingly nice – like it’s “so quiet” you can hear the birds.

Since I don’t need to travel anywhere any time soon, I’m enjoying the treat.