Dear Readers, after a long day of looking at programmed cell death (great fun), I popped out to the garden to see what was happening, and came across this ring-necked parakeet and young starling sharing some suet pellets. Normally the parakeets absolutely rule a feeder when they’re on one, so it was amusing to see that the little starling hadn’t yet learned ‘the rules’. I was also surprised to see the parakeet on his own, usually he brings half a dozen of his little green friends.

The whitebeam and the hawthorn are both recovering from their haircut, though it will be a few years until they’re back to their former glory I suspect. In the meantime, the woodpigeon sits at the top and surveys his kingdom, probably imagining that he’s some exotic hawk on the Serengeti.

The climbing hydrangea is looking spectacular this year, and I can lay in bed and watch the bees flit past the window. Not that there’s much time for laying in bed at the moment you understand. I still have to revise my stem cells.