Aylesbury, England

[Sundae]

A close up of one of the "candles" in its infancy.
And a later blossoming tree also on my walk.

[Trilby]

thanks, Sundae. I'm really enjoying this!

[xoxoxoBruce]

I found this;

Misconception: It always rains in Britain.
When people think of Britain, we all tend to immediately think of bad weather. We see rain clouds, storms and bitter wind. General misery. However, compared with many other parts of the world, Britain enjoys comparatively pleasant weather!
During the winter the average temperature can become bitterly cold, between 0 and 6 degrees C, (32F to 43F), but the average summer temperature ranges between 15 and 23 degrees (59F to 74F), often higher. Britain ranks a comfortable 46th in a chart of worldwide average rainfall, falling well behind such countries as New Zealand (29th) and even the USA (25th).
Why does Britain have a reputation for bad weather? Most likely because winters tend to be longer than summers in Britain, most artwork of Britain depicts the weather based on expectation and we all like to dwell on a period of bad weather, even if the weather is generally good.

It was part of a list of misconceptions about England and I must admit I had some, like this one.

[Pico and ME]

32 F to 43F is not bitterly cold. Sheesh, thats considered balmy during the winters in Indiana.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Meh, it was written by a limey.

[Sundae]

Thing is Pico, we haven't really got the hang of heating yet.
0-6 degrees with a gas fire on in one single room of the house can make you quite bitter.

[Undertoad]

The houses are all made of non-insulating stone, unlike the insulating wood that the US learned to use because it was plentiful in the new world.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Well that explains it. Being stoned makes the cold more intense. Having wood makes the ambient temperature irrelevant.

[Clodfobble]

Britain ranks a comfortable 46th in a chart of worldwide average rainfall, falling well behind such countries as New Zealand (29th) and even the USA (25th).

Pshaw. Average rainfall across the entire US is a meaningless number. I'm sure Britain gets less rain than, say, Seattle, but compared to my neck of the woods it's still a completely sodden marsh.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, but you live in the damn desert. :p

[monster]

Never mind the US, different parts of the UK get hugely different amounts of rain. It does always rain in Manchester (on the wrong side of the Pennines), but when I moved 90 minutes South to Birmingham, they thought I was nuts for taking an umbrella everywhere regardless of the current actual weather or forecast.

[Sundae]

It's been sunny here for a while, and set to continue into May, or so they say.

Here is my path. I think I took one from the same place in the snow, earlier this year. Excuse our neighbour having their recycling out early.
Second picture is just some tulips in our front garden, making a brave show of colour.

[Sundae]

Yesterday, walking to acupuncture.

The first is the entrance - lovely and peaceful, although I am heading for a bungalow further down the path and the session is held in the Portacabin behind it!
Second, looking through the trees to the main unit. It's locally called Tindal, because it was originally built by the Tindal family as a hospital for the local area. It's not been a general hospital for a long time, it forms the backbone of the services for mental health and addiction counselling these days.

[Sundae]

And my friend the duck.
I don't know where his wife was - they're usually together.
And I usually see them in a more inconguous setting - like the carpark at Cornerstone or walking along the Bierton Road together.

[glatt]

beautiful!