Swallows & Amazon ..

Stepping out on my way to the post office today.. I was suddenly aware of swooping squadron of swallows.. shrieking with exuberance. Ahh.. I thought.. surely summer is on the way. I like to think that these courageous birds have arrived from their epic journeys from Africa.. to a warm welcome here in old Blighty.. but this year they were met by icy winds and a rather frosty reception. Poor little feathered friends.. they are always a joy to see and I love to watch their aeronautical displays from our lofty lounge window.. they fly so close and at such speed towards our house.. gathering tiny insects as they go.. and seeming to have much fun in their pursuits.. I half expect one to fly inside our house ..but their sophisticated power steering prevents any crashes or wrong turns.
With each passing day, the lure of the garden is growing stronger.. with the plants really going in to overdrive now to make up for lost time.. and though there is colour on my garden canvas.. there is usually much more at this time of year..

I always think of May as being the 'Proms' month in the garden.. full of pomp and circumstance .. but this year the plants have been reluctant to put on their usual show.. and who can blame them.. with night frosts and chilling winds still around....


All we need is a few days of warm forgiving sun..and the garden will start shouting at the top of it's voice and each plant will jostle and vie for attention.
Something else has been doing that recently.. the pile of books beside my bed. When I was a child I had a voracious appetite for books.. cutting my literary teeth (probably quite literally) on my first beloved books.. such as the Ant and Bee Books by Angela Banner... classics in their own right and still loved by me many years on.

Next I progressed to the Famous Five books by you know who.. and couldn't wait to finish one adventure before starting on the next. But of course back then in my acres of youth.. I had all the time in the world to disappear in to a good book.. Now I flirt with the idea of reading more than the act of.. but this does not spoil my appetite for certain authors.. and one of my favourites is Maggie O' Farrell.. Her first book 'After You'd Gone' had me smitten from the first page and each subsequent novel of hers has me pestering the lasses at Waterstone's for the publishing dates.. So we are back to those 'Famous Five' days again... hungry for the next book.

It was good old Amazon that delivered her latest tome to me The Hand That First Held Mine'. This sits underneath 'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert's delicious account of her travels and complicated love life..

The crowning glory on top of the pile is a dear little book called 'In Praise of Friendship' given to me by a very dear friend indeed..and not just a friend but my partner in business too..

So three guesses who that might be..??

We are now the proud owners of our own blog..... ' Milly & Dottie' ... where you will be able to follow our adventures, daily musings and general chit chat over the garden fence.. We hope you will come and join us and get to know these two whimsical characters better.