Swallows are back!

My workshop, despite noisy chiselling and hammering, is home to lots of wildlife, which is a joy to me and a source of  inspiration for my work.  Nesting birds at the moment are a distraction, a blue-tit is already feeding her brood who pipe insistently.  I also have a treecreeper, squeezed into such a small chink in the wood boarding I would not have known was there had I not seen the flitting in and out with nesting material.  The hole is about head-height and I walk past it each day, pretending not to look at her in case I disturb the sitting.

But one of the biggest joys, and I have been waiting as it is due time - expectantly watching the sky and hoping - is the return of the swallows.  I first heard the happy, thrilling chirrupy song, and there they were above, swooping and chasing.  So they are back for another year, and it delights deep down, I waved and called my welcome and smiled all day.