A visit to the pigs

Ssshh!  I need to say this very quietly - I think Spring may be on it's way at last.  Yesterday and today the sun shone and temperatures got up into double figures.  No idea how long it will last but we have been out and about making the most of it.

Yesterday we went for the walk I had hoped to do on my birthday, but couldn't due to wind and rain all day.  We walked to Quarr Abbey, via woodlands and fields, and it was lovely.  Signs of Spring all around us.

Celandines and delicate wood anenomies gleamed in the sunlight.

Views across the ruins to the Solent

The real purpose of the walk was to visit the Abbey pigs ;).  I had been to see them during the winter when it snowed.  Then they were all out, having a great time in the mud and slush.  Yesterday just one was having a wander, but it was very friendly and came to say hello - it was just after a back-scratch and I couldn't refuse!

In the Abbey grounds a casualty of the previous night's wind.  We hadn't realised just how strong the wind had been but this oak(?) tree had not been able to withstand it ...

You begin to appreciate the destructive power of the elements when you see how the roadway has just been lifted as the roots gave way.  It's quite awesome and certainly stopped us, and many other visitors, in our tracks.  

We had a lovely walk and felt so much better for being outside in the fresh (and ever so slightly warmer) air!

My carrot cake birthday treat tastes as good as it looks.  As usual I had to tweak the recipe (no muscovado sugar, so plain granulated instead; not enough walnuts so used a handful of dates to bulk it out; no sandwich tins so had to use deep cake tin; and not enough icing sugar so the cream for the topping is actually more of a pouring cream!).  But it is very yummy and moreish.

Excellent cookery book was a Christmas present and has become a firm favourite.

I had more visitors yesterday afternoon, and lovely phone calls with my children in the evening, so I managed to spread my birthday over the whole weekend.  I had a lovely time - thank you to those who made me feel special.