Blue skys at last

The temperatures are rising.
The snow is melting
We had heavy rain last night plus thunder and lightening. No wonder parts of Staffordshire have experienced floods.

This picture was taken at a family walk around Longton Park. Aside from the slushiness under foot, it was a good way to spend an afternoon. The wonderful blue skys and sunshine were a change to the heavy, white skys of recent days. The semi-frozen lakes were teaming with birds and there were absolutely loads of squirrels. More friendly than the ones I ever see back home! The park also boasts some amazing trees and while most are left to their own devices, others are manicured into the most perfect shapes by some obviously talented groundsperson.

There's also tennis courts, child's play area (with one of those amazing red rope, spider web climbing frames I loved as a kid), skate area, band stand and bowling greens. The park's official name is apparently Queens Park though. It was opened in 1888 and it's a grade ii listed heritage area. So it's very old! Well worth another visit I'd say and I'm definitely going to make a point of going in the Summer.