Goldfinches - At last

"Tis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause, - and of obstinacy in a bad one............"

from Tristram Shandy.. .. Laurence Sterne 1713 - 1768

My determination for the Goldfinches to return, and to get a picture of at least one, finally paid off this morning. I knew the niger seed would attract them but there are 4 slits in the feeder and yesterday they insisted in only using the back two. They were visible but not photographable. A simple solution was to stick bits of tape over the rear slits. (I know I should get out more) Anyway, there they are. Eyes left - pick up magnifying glass. It wasn't possible to enlarge or crop any closer, without completely losing definition. And it is only, as they say, a record-shot, with no pretention to artistic merit. My next bird-challenge is to photograph the Longtailed Tits who are regular visitors. But probably even more furtive than the Goldfinch. If I even approached a window they would be away. By-the-way I am not becoming a 'twitcher'. I just like to see the garden-birds happy. We have a family, a large family, of hedge-sparrows that live contentedly in the winter-flowering jasmine. The birdbath (topped up everymorning) is about 6ft away and the feeders (likewise) are around 20ft away. If one is a sparrow it doesn't get much better!

I know I said I would probably use a 'panorama' today, but that can come anyday. Today has been a typical April-Showers day but the temperature has been as high as 12C although, with the wind, it has felt distinctly cooler than that.

We had Delia's 'oven baked winter veg' again for lunch. Celeriac, sweet potato, butternut squash, peppers et al and it was a great success again. It is no trouble to prepare and it goes in looking colourful and comes out looking colourful. As it was Sunday lunch we had two small sirloin steaks with it; remembering to put Yvonne's in 2 minutes earlier than mine because she doesn't like it quite so rare. Banana and Ice Cream for puds - which saved making custard. The Boat Race has just cost me a £1. Y always picks Oxford who won convincingly by several lengths. The water was very choppy and Cambridge, my lot, didn't have a pump in their boat which an expert said was like carrying an extra man - with the amount of water they shipped. You learn something everyday - I didn't even know that boats of that type had pumps.

I had a nice long chat to David this morning everybody there is OK - but he is looking forward to Easter and a well-earned break. It must be tough teaching Maths to teenagers and I'm glad he seems to survive it. I would probably be in instant trouble for clouting one of them. He hadn't realised the full potential of 'siteadvisor' and is going to have another look, beyond the fun quiz. Not only David, we also spoke to Tracy, and Steven but missed out on John, and Debra.

It's now 7.30pm and I'm going to tidy up. The weather is now heavy rain and a nearly black sky although there is still some light. Hundreds of daffodils trying to stand up in the wind. I noticed this morning we have some hyacinths in bloom and some early tulips that should flower in a couple of days