Summer is coming

Perhaps that is what is disturbing my sleep pattern.  Take this morning, for example:

5.00am - wide awake
6.00am - still wide awake
7.00am - sound asleep when the alarm goes off!

And I had to be up and doing on account of what I am trying to cram into the morning. 

Anyway, summer most certainly is a'coming in, although it's approach does seem a bit like two steps forward and one back.  I saw the first of the summer migrant birds in the park yesterday, a chiffchaff, and the lilacs are coming into bloom.  Meanwhile, here in the garden the Maigold rose has at least four buds showing colour.  That rose generally comes into bloom round about my brother's birthday on 8th May so it seems to be a little early this year.  As are the bluebells in Stanmer woods, many of which are already out.

This is a picture of the pear tree in the garden which I took yesterday.  The pink haze just visible further down the garden is a montana clematis which clambers over an arch leading to the vegetable patch and now almost in bloom, while the yellow is the forsythia right at the end of the garden..