My working environment...

I thought I would make all you poor office slaves stuck in a concrete block all day a wee bit jealous, and show you what a loverly office I have in a protected nature reserve. It is in a little fachwerk building, situated right next to a river surrounded by potplants and flowers.

Am I not a lucky girl..!

The river banks are full of trees and plants, and behind my office is a small patch of woodland area.

In the early morning I take a walk round the back and just enjoy the quiet, and listen to the birds. The ground is covered in wild grasses and buttercups, and othere small wild flowers. I have red squirrils that run up the tree next to the office occassionally, and have even had a hedgehog come sniffing around by my door. I usually only see hedgehogs squashed on the roads, so it was a real treat to see one up close and alive!

There are many wild birds that nest around the area, and apart from many black ravens that nest in the tree tops, I have even seen the fairly rare 'Blaumeisen', which is the cutest little blue and yellow birdie ever..
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Spring time in the city

The city is looking beautiful with all the trees in bright spring green.

The Rathaus

cars and bicycles

Colombi Schlosspark is looking really pretty with all the spring bulbs blooming

Black Forest Cup and Fruit Jogurt Cup at the Ice Cream parlour on the Rathausplatz is a must after a hard days shopping!

Dappled shade in the park behindthe church

Floral detail on the wroght iron fence surrounding the churchyard

The lawn around the church is full of buttercups and tiny white 'Gänseblumchen', little miniture daisies.

A wreath of sandstone roses adorn an old tombstone in the churchyard

I was delighted to see Bluebells growing among a tangle of weeds and ivy on an old overgrown grave.

Real Bluebells, although common in much of Britain and Ireland,  are rare in the rest of Europe and absent from the rest of the world. The populations in the UK represent about 30% of the global population. The species has greatly declined over the past 50 years and is globally threatened.

Beautiful old Gothic tombstones covered in moss

This lady buried beneath this pretty tombstone, Emma, was born in 1858 and died in 1878.

The Beautiful Chelsea Pensioners Garden

The Ecover Chelsea Pensioners' Garden was Julian Dowle's 26th garden - and 26th award winner - at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2005.

Julian's inspiration for his entry came from discussions with a group of Chelsea Pensioners over a pint. The result was "A Soldier's Dream of Blighty", - a nostalgic vision of an English country pub garden in 1945.

The pub, the "Chelsea Pensioner", has a thatched roof with traditional rendered walls covered with climbing roses. Outside is a stone terrace, with benches and tables, surrounded by a cottage garden.

A timber-framed shelter provides a seating area beside the "Dig for Victory" vegetable patch. The vegetables were grown by the Royal Hospital Chelsea using varieties selected from a 1939 catalogue.

A stone gravel path links the pub to a village green and duck pond. The village green - as befits five years of wartime neglect - was awash with wildflowers, symbolically dominated by wild poppies. Both fence and pub were adorned with Union Jack bunting, representing celebrations of the homecoming.

Creeping, climbing beauties..