Swans and sunshine

There are so many swans around here - it seems like more than there have ever been - and they're mostly paired up now.  I saw this pen with her cob down on the edge of the canal not far from where Winchester College boys were being made to sweat on a bank of rowing machines.  They're definitely nest building.  (Swans, not boys ;))

In Extras is a swan family that rather puzzled me.  They still have two cygnets from last year.  Perhaps the babies were born rather late in the summer, but I'm surprised they haven't been told to move on by now.

The reason I went to the canal was to scope out the possibility of wildflowers, but nothing is quite there yet apart from celandines and primroses.  I haven't even seen any marsh marigolds, but that's probably because I'm looking in the wrong place.  What I did see on my walk though was a huge amount of sunshine and blue skies, despite a rather downbeat forecast.

Other things today, I had some time in the garden doing more cutting back.  I enjoyed that too.

Hope you've all had a good week.  Weekend tomorrow, how lovely  xx