leopards in the grass

 How thrilling to see a touch of Spring in the garden again. I see this year the hellebores are keeping their stems short until the winds pass. To be felled to the ground after all those months of preparation and competition to be one of the first flowers out in the garden, would seem so pointless. They are even ahead of the snowdrops up here.

 In fact it's been quite mild and I'm half expecting the hedgehogs to wake up along with Beezle who has been practising his periodic heart beat all winter.

 As Beezle (above) and Socrates would say "Beware the barrenness of a busy life."

I would rather hope the foxes were hibernating as they had the hunt up here this morning. But sadly they don't and if they did those terriers would soon be digging them out. Beezle, Pixie and I stood firmly behind the gate as they all rode past. Several of the huntsmen raised their hats and called me "Madam" - I'm not sure what they were trying to tell me - but I smiled back as they trotted on.

At the beginning of the winter someone lost their leopard print scarf on their walk and some kind person hung it on the branch of a tree to be found. Surprisingly no one has claimed it and the winter winds have gradually reduced it to shreds so that now it lies tangled in the undergrowth looking exactly like a leopard waiting to pounce out.  This is certainly what Trude the beautiful Friesian thought as we rode past it the other day. It had to be the most terrifying thing she'd seen since my new coat and took off at great speed up the rode, dragging me and Harry the other horse behind her. I thought horses were meant to smell things like leopards before they see them - I can't think her sense of smell is doing her any favours. She really is quite a "Madam."
 Perhaps the pack of hounds have unearthed it by now. you don't want leopards littering the countryside.

                                             Unidentified object in the bagging area.

And talking of hunting please sign this petition below to stop the Japanese slaughtering the bottlenose dolphins which they herd into a cove and kill - often by breaking their backs. The filmic evidence is almost unbearable to watch.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Japanese_Government_Stop_capturing_and_slaughtering_Dolphins_specifically_at_Taiji/?email

Thank you.