It started with a hiss.

They locked eyes over a crowded pool, he the strong, silent type, she, spirited and self-assured with a ready wit. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single cob in possession of a good plumage, must be in want of a pen," she says. He's not impressed. "A lady's imagination is very rapid," he says. "It jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment." Others are not so deceived. The body language says it all. It may take the rest of the winter to convince this pair, but these swans are fooling no-one. The outcome is inevitable from this moment on. No need to speculate on the nest. Blipper, she marries him.

Apologies for not being around much but the lurgy that laid me low a few weeks ago seems to have returned so I'm tucked up in bed after it came on during a Christmas shopping trip to Kingston. Cynics (cygnets?) might describe it as shoppingitis but that would be cruel. I'm proper poorly! :(