Dedicated to all those young who will not see this again

Here is a picture of the woods here. I dedicate this picture to all the young who will not see something like this again as a result of gun crime.

Since the swallows left in October last, the little stable yard outside my studio (the old tack room) has been very quiet. Yes, a dozen or more wrens live in the far wall behind my desk and I hear a lot of pushing and shoving, bickering and squabbling at bedtime, but at last things are livening up properly.

This picture explains much, his animals have been out to grass as he has been off sick, but all is getting back to normal.

An advance party of swallows has settled in and soon the main party will arrive making the Etoile feel safe and navigating Trafalgar Square a doddal. They come in at low level at a hundred miles and hour within inches of each other (and me). If I leave my door open they will come in and look for a suitable spot to set up home! I guess that there may be as many as 30 or 40 birds in flight sometimes.