I found the photos of the 'mixtures' delightful. thank you for the spring walk--another month before anything like that happens here.

Dear Lucy, thank you for your comments much appreciated. I was frozen after taking the photos, it was so cold, but the trees were lovely to see!
Kindest Regards.
Neil.

tHnk you Neil for lending me your spring. Our is far far away yet. Thank you thank you thank you.

Dear Cherie, it even had your name on the bottom!
Regards.
Neil.

I saw that thank you very very much. I need some spring and don't mind drawing a little strength from yours...

We all need spring or even summer even if I don't like really hot weather.

I did say in my Article that spring was doing well here. Then since early February the ice cold wind and rain has done a lot of damage and stopped things dead. Now it is -3 tonight again with snow to come. So we are not having a spring yet!
I will of course get more pictures as the weather allows, I hope you enjoyed what I could get as it is the first time with a new lens.
Regards.
Neil.

Beautiful images Neil. I enjoyed this article immensely. But that goos tickled my funnybone and got me laughing I never understood the expression "silly goose" because they are usually pretty serious looking birds.Your picture shows they do have a silly side.

Dear Brenda, thank you for your comments! Despite being cold doing the lots of photos I needed, I did see the funny side of some of the antics of the Ducks and Geese! They are at their courtship time at the moment and the weather does not bother them too much. The children love to watch the Geese doing silly things, but maybe the Geese think we are silly for coming out on a cold day to watch them!
Maybe another week or two and more things will be out!
Regards.
Neil.

This article was great as usual, it was so good seing all the English flowers, that is something I still miss after all these years, they just do not have them here.Thank you Neil.

Dear Doris, thank you for your most kind comments.
Please do not forget it is PANCAKE DAY today!
English Pancakes.
I get enough practice making these!
What you need:
4 ozs of normal plain flour, sifted.
2 eggs.
7 fl ozs of milk.
3 fl ozs of water.
pinch of salt.
2 ozs of unsalted butter!

The fun starts here:
Sift the flour into a bowl, then make a well in the middle. Add the two eggs and start to whisk in gently in a circle. Then start adding the liquid a bit at a time, don't worry about lumps they soon go.
Keep adding the liquid and whisking, the flour on the outside falls down into the mixture, so keep going till all the liquid has gone. Add a pinch of salt and then whisk around the edges to make sure there is no flour left anywhere. It should be like runny cream.
Heat a frying pan up till hot, then add the butter and swirl round once when melted and hot. With a ladle add some of the the mixture to the center of the pan and swirl till it goes all over, if it doesn't add some more where needed and swirl again. Till the whole base of the pan is covered, with a not too thick layer of the batter!
Then you will see the batter set around the edge of the pan, using a palette knife, go round the edge lifting it, and lift up a bit slightly so you can see if the pancake has browned.
If it has remove form heat and toss the pancake in the air catching it on the other unbrowned side in the pan (hopefully).
If you are not brave enough to do this use two spatulas\frying slices and lift it up and turn it over. Then lift again to check it has browned.
It will slide straight out of the pan onto a plate without any trouble at all.
Then squeeze some lemon juice over it and sprinkle some sugar on it. It is also nice with Tate & Lyle golden syrup, or if you are rich maple syrup.
They are also much used in Britain for savoury pancakes, from Cheese and onion, to beef mince, tomato's, onion, garlic, with a thick sauce.
You simply place the filling in the middle and fold them in half!
Sometimes the first one does not come out to well, but after that they will all come out perfectly, do not add any more butter, they do not need it!
Dead easy, tasty and extremely versatile.
Regards.
Neil.

Neil the lemon juice is what does it for me, when I tell anyone I do that they look at me like I am crazy, but they are crazy for not trying it.

Dear Doris, I agree! Lemon juice and the sugar or sweet and sour if you like!
Regards.
Neil.

Beautiful, Neil.

thanks for letting me remember all the lovely flowers of my youth.

Hugs


Nancy

Dear Nancy, it was a rather cold pleasure taking the photos for you all to see!
Hopefully, there will me more, depending on the weather!

Regards.
Neil.

What a lovely spring walk Neil! Really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the recipe Neil. It must be time for some pancakes now too. Okay Doris, we will try it with lemon juice, I usually like honey but Inky doesn't; I bet he will like the lemon and sugar though. It's Fat Tuesday today anyway so there have been recipes going on TV and making me hungry all morning. Although here in the Milwaukee area, the BIG treat is Polish Paczki!

Our church is having a Shrove tuesday pancake supper. However I shouldn't eat them & John doesn't like driving at night anymore so they will have to deal without us. I don't think that they will be unhappy.

...never can figure out why folks go "OUT" for pancakes anyway, they are so easy to make at home. Inky and I have crepes quite a lot too. We both love them with a little cream cheese and orange marmalade inside.

It is a requirement of Fat Tuesday though Lucy, to have SOMETHING 'bad' for you.

Dear Jamie, i am so glad you enjoyed your walk in the park!
I do hope you try English pancakes, they do not ris like American pancakes, but then again do not taste of rising agents!
This all stems from in the middle ages. The tradition of pancake racing had started long before that. The most famous pancake race,at Olney in Buckinghamshire, has been held since 1445. The contestants, traditionally women, carry a frying pan and race to the finishing line while tossing the pancakes as they go. The winner is the first to cross the line having tossed the pancake a certain number of times. Traditionally, when men want to participate, they must dress up as a housewife (usually an apron and a bandanna).
Originally it was caused by one woman who was cooking pancakes and heard the Church bells ring, in a panic not to be late for Church she ran down the road with a frying pan, tossing her pancake!
The tradition has never changed since then, and is still carried on in towns and villages to this day!
Nowadays people have pancake parties, where people who attend can bring there own toppings and a bottle!
Regards.
Neil.

Your 'unknown iris' is certainly Iris Unguicularis, flowering from October to March.
C.