Daffodils

We have a lot of daffodils in the garden.These are some of the different varieties we have,I do not know the specific name or genus but I am presuming they are  related to the daffodil.

Two hybrid varieties.

Miniature daffodil with bumble bee!!

Yellow with orange cups

White with cream frilled cups

I am not sure what this is.

 White with yellow cups

Large standard yellow daffodil

To finish off, another bumble bee on the pussy willow.

Wishing you all a good weekend,bye for now.

THE FIRST BUTTERFLY

It was a glorious day yesterday and I saw the very first butterfly of the year,it was on the Pussy-willow tree by the lake.

This is the earliest I have seen a butterfly,they do not usually show themselves until late April,but I suppose the very warm weather this week has woken them up.

I also saw a Bullfinch in the bushes,he is not usually seen until the apple tree starts to bud.This is a beautiful red and black bird,but he strips the apple trees of buds.

This Hare was ambling across the path this morning,I just had to get a shot of him.

When he saw me ,he actually stopped and posed for this picture.

This little shrew was climbing up the wall in the house,I rescued him and put him out in the garden.A little later I noticed he was back inside,this time climbing the curtains.These are so small they can crawl through the gaps in the stone of the house,being a very old stone house,there are a lot of gaps.!!
John put him out side again---- and again---and again..................

this time farther away from the house,but he still kept coming back in.It is a mystery why he did not stay in the garden.These little creatures have to eat almost continually,day and night or they die.
Unfortunately, this fella did die.He came back into the house when we were out and Charlie,our gentle friendly pet,who loves to play with everyone and every thing,must have stepped on him.Charlie was looking very sorry for himself when we got back,he was curled up on the mat with the little shrew next to him.

I hope you all are having the warmer weather that we have at the moment,it is such a welcome relief after all the ice and snow this year.
I look forward to seeing your spring Photographs.

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY

May the luck of the Irish be with you all today,where ever  you are.
Have a great day,love from Ireland.
Carolyn

Spring is arriving at the Castle.

I am sorry that I have been neglecting my blog lately and all of you,but we have been sooo busy with the cottage renovations,decorating etc.Today I felt burned out,so have downed tools and paint brushes and am taking the day off.
I went for a walk around the gardens looking for signs of spring and something to take pictures of and was surprised to see several bushes and spring flowers blooming.

The woods were carpeted with Celandine,like pools of sunshine.

The Camellia is in bloom,the bright pink blossoms are a welcome sight.

I do not know what this flower is,it has blue and pink blossoms and broad spotted leaves,very pretty.

The good old reliable Daffodils,they never let us down.!! they have been out for a couple of weeks now but there are hundreds of them in bud,they should put on a good show for several weeks to come.

I also managed to catch this lovely red squirrel,he scampered off as soon as he saw me looking at him,though I did get more shots of him jumping through the trees,they were not good enough to publish.
Hope to catch up with everyone soon,take care and have a good week.