A Strange Selection of Things

I opened the front door this morning and was greeted by the first of the extra shots ..... a BIG trailer on the pavement across the the end of the path. When I walked to the end of the path, there was a van attached to the trailer (2nd extra) completely blocking the pavement, on the corner, over the the lowered crossing point.
I got the camera and took the pictures and realised there was somebody getting out of another van parked behind my car. I asked if it was intended to have van and trailer left in that position and the guy said they were just about to move it.
It was moved ....... and left double parked next to my car and the other van leaving very little room to get into the courtyard.

When I was out there I noticed this rather colourful Mahonia leaf. The bush is getting a bit large for its allotted spot and may have to be cut back. The cuttings with be kept for the lathe though because it has a wonderful bright yellow wood which, surprisingly, does not fade as the wood dries.

After helping SWMBO hang the washing out (it was a lovely sunny morning) I took some close-up pictures of the Tulips in the garden (all 3 of them) and then went round to the pond where I got some interesting (to me anyway) close-ups of things like the pond weed - which was being moved around by the tadpoles feasting on it, the feather, the pond-skater, the water droplets on the Lady's Mantle and the spider caught in the droplet of water on its web. I was also pleased to see that there are leaves appearing for the orchids.

After lunch we went out for a walk.
It was cold by that point but it didn't stop the Heron wading about in the stream (of course I had the wrong lens to get a decent shot).
We also got to see some bluebells that were in flower ... not many though - that will require a trip to Perthshire in a couple of weeks.

By the time we got home the moisture was falling out of the clouds so we had to bring the washing in again ... not fully dry.

Pictures are over HERE.
If you look at them see if you can see the pond-skater and the spider .... and if anyone knows what the white flower is, I would love to know.