The hedges are loud with hawthorn now, and the swallows are back in the rafters, picking up nests they left

It is the strangest week of the year for the hedges. The blackthorn went over a fortnight ago and the

The swifts came back this week. They were not here on Sunday and on Monday evening they were, six of

There is a quality to the dusk this week, the light holding longer as May approaches. The verge grass is

The warmth has settled. The April rains have worked themselves into the soil and the path gives slightly underfoot where

The first swallow has been reported, which means someone has been watching. The dandelion leaves are sharp and pale and

Easter has gone. The cold has not. The sky carries no warmth, the lambs are unsteady in the fields, and

The cold has settled back over the country, the way it does every year when the blackthorn is in flower.