I love this time of year. Everything is exploding into bloom. If you listen carefully enough, I swear you can here the tiny explosions of petals unfurling. ping, ping, ping. Like fingers dragging slowly across harp strings.
This week, it’s not just the plants changing. We’ve had a birthday too.
Birthday
Youngest Teen turned fourteen. What can I say? I’m always in flux between belief and disbelief when it comes to the children’s birthdays. He’s my baby boy, but at the same time he’s a teen with interests and opinions of his own. That boy can argue his case and holds his own. He’s no longer a little boy.
(He makes me smile. Forgive my proud parent moment. This week, his science teacher told him to stop putting up his hand, as she wanted to give others a chance to answer. This is progress. His confidence must be growing. I’m guessing he was the only one volunteering. He says that he was getting the answers right too.)
His birthday was a school day, sandwiched between already busy weekends, so we’ll take him out for a treat in a few weeks time. We made the evening special with favourite foods and fun activities. A friend popped over too.
If you’re looking for a non-tech present for a teen, I can recommend one of his presents. It was a table tennis trainer, which could easily be mistaken for a cat toy. Imagine a ping pong ball on a very bendy stick. The Teens all had fun, as well as the adults. Certainly a challenge for eye-hand coordination. It keeps on being brought out, so I’m taking it as a success.
I’m not sure I’ve heard so much laughter.
Toads
The annually migration of toadlets across our garden has started. They are the size of a fingernail, so we’re careful where we place our feet. They love the long grass of the meadow area.
Previous years, their path used to go straight through the house, but something has changed and they stick to the top part of the garden. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt eyes on me, in the kitchen. I’d turn around and find a row of tiny toadlets watching me. Adorable.
Unfortunately the grass snakes wait for them in the garden. All part of the food cycle, but I’m team toadlets on this one.
Garden
The garden is beginning to bloom. I even have tiny cucumbers on the way in the greenhouse. The roses and lavender are all out. I’m busy dead heading to keep everything in bloom as long as I can. The shasta daisies are opening up too, in great swathes.
The blackcurrants are ready. If anyone looks bored, I give them a bowl and send them out to pick blackcurrants. We have ten big bushes and they need picking every day. The wood pigeons and blackbirds all muscle in to have their share too.
That’s my week. Apart from the increase in my taxi duties, ferrying the children to see friends, I don’t think I’ve done anything else. Middle Teen is off on her Duke of Edinburgh practise expedition, this weekend, which means more ferrying. If my word is taxi next week, don’t be surprised.
Joining in with Anne’s word of the week linky. One word. Bloom.
It really is a beautiful time of year! My garden is looking amazing with all of the flowers.
Happy birthday to your youngest teen. It sounds like you have every reason to be proud of him. The table tennis trainer is a genius present. I’ve never seen one of those before. x
I’m glad you are enjoying your garden! Yes, the table tennis trainer has been a hit. It was out again last night.
Belated happy birthday to youngest teen. Not one of my youngest have birthdays during term time so they don’t get birthday school days. This year we have one birthday 3 days before we go on holiday and another 3 days after we get home. I’d love to see the toadlets, one of my favourite things as a child was the garden pond we had which always attracted frogs. I had a fascination for them. Somehow, I don’t think they’d survive in our garden, Ash the killer cat, grabs absolutely anything that moves. I love the photo of Hero in the daisies, in fact I love any photo of Hero, he’s very photogenic. The flowers look gorgeous too.
p.s. I have to look into the table tennis trainer seeing as I’m finding it difficult to get presents for my three.
It is a surprising success. Everyone enjoys it, plus it can be played solo.
The toadlets are so cute. I love finding them. We have neighbouring cats that hang around the garden. I’m forever quietly disturbing their hunting. 😆 Team toadlet!
Happy birthday to your youngest teen! I’m so happy he enjoyed his non-tech present and so did the rest of the family.
I truly love all the flowers in bloom this time of year too.
The flowers are gorgeous at the moment.
I do love this time of year when everything is out in bloom.
Happy belated birthday to your son. I think they will always be our babies even when they are ready to leave the nest.
The table tennis trainer sounds like great fun! I think we would have a few giggles with this in our house. #WotW
I think your boys would love the table tennis trainer. Lots of fun.
We found a toad buried under the soil in our garden the other day. She hopped out when we found her but was in the same place again a few weeks later :o)
The table tennis trainer looks great! It’s always difficult to buy for teenagers!
#MMBC
They often return, I find. Always happy to find frogs and toads in the garden, especially my greenhouses.
I’m so glad your teen had a nice birthday and I love your beautiful photos this week. I’m all for the tiny froglets – go froggies!
Ha! I will pass on your support to them!
It is lovely to see all the flowers coming into bloom isn’t it? Love the photos of the bee on the lavender and the one of the toadlet. Hope most of the toadlets can make it across your garden without being eaten by the grass snakes. Happy birthday to your Youngest Teen. How lovely that he is becoming more confident. The table tennis trainer looks like fun. Hope all went well with Middle Teen’s DoE practice expedition. #WotW
Lots of flowers pinging into bloom this week too. The roses, lavender and daisies are going mad.
Beautiful photos! I love the idea of the flowers pinging into life! A table tennis trainer sounds like a great idea. I spent quite some time playing table tennis with my eldest son at the weekend because his younger brother wouldn’t play with him. #MMBC
Table tennis is fun. I hope you enjoyed yourself.
What beautiful blooms and photos. Hope your birthday boy had a fabulous day; even if it was a school day.
He had a good time. Thanks.
It’s scary how quickly our children’s birthdays come round each year. I love the sound of your garden. Our house is very close to a river and when we first moved here there were hundreds of baby toads. Sadly the police had to search the river for some clues once and it disrupted the ecosystem. I hope every year that we will spot some new baby toads #WotW
Fingers crossed, they should return.