Cardiff flower show is ready for its close-up…

Lilium Royal Sunset at the RHS Cardiff Show, April 2012

It has been over a week now since I went to the Royal Horticultural Society’s show here in Cardiff. But I took so many pictures that

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The garden after rain

Sunshine on sparkly raindrops on red Japanese Acer in the garden...

I know I’ve done it before, but I just have to post the pictures when we have sunshine after rain. Everything in the garden is just so shiny and clean…

Blueberry bells after rain...

As Chaucer would say, April’s “showers sweet” have been very heavy this year and have

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Egging on the magpies…

Not just black and white - a beady-eyed magpie among the ash trees...

OK, I know it’s a bit controversial, since they snatch the eggs of smaller birds, but I really do like magpies. Some things just aren’t all black and white, you might say.

They are beautiful, big and comparatively easy to photograph, surprisingly colourful and very entertaining.

Until about six weeks ago, I used to throw away the skin of scrambled egg that sticks to the surface of my “non-stick” pan. But now I have found it is one of the magpies’ favourites!

Cold water loosens the egg, which I then scrape off with my fingernails and place in a pile, where I can see it from the kitchen window.

Usually the magpies

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April is busting out all over…

Euonymus alatus in April 2012...

OK, I know it should be June busting out all over, but in these parts April is the month when the last of the trees, shrubs and perennials burst into life.

After a very dry March, April has kicked in with some lovely heavy showers of rain to freshen everything up. Here are some images of what has been going on in my garden…

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Coins: An albatross in my pocket…

A Falkland Islands 5p coin found in my change here in the UK...

I always love finding alien coins in my change and this week’s discovery seems particularly fitting – a shiny 5p piece from the Falkland Islands, far away in the South Atlantic. I say fitting, because we are coming up to the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina.

But this is not a political post, nor is it a tribute to those 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors and airmen and three civilian Falklanders who sadly died in that short conflict.

This is just about Falkland Island coins and the wildlife depicted on them.

That 5p coin features a Black-browed Albatross or

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