Dear Readers, I have just finished revising my Biology course material, in time for my exam on Wednesday, and so I decided to reward myself with a walk around the County Roads here in East Finchley. Actually, I was summoned to the front door by the sound of these two angry crows, and a magpie, who were all mobbing a cat who was hiding under a car. The cat didn’t appear to be menacing anything, plus I happen to know that these crows nest in a tall tree on the other side of the road and so the cat was nowhere near the nest, or any visible nestlings. Still, I think that the birds sometimes get the devil in them, and so the cat lay low for a bit, before strolling away with a nonchalant air, as if nothing had happened.

And so off we went. The tree pit just up the road has some white clover and some very nice agrimony this year – there always seems to be something new popping up.

And this herb robert was doing very nicely in the gutter. What a determined little plant it is!

And the bumblebees were all over my favourite hebe bush at the bottom of Huntingdon Road. If you look closely, you can see the pollen in the basket on the leg of the bumblebee in the centre (these structures are called corbicula, which means ‘little basket’)

And look at these fantastic roses! The single flowers are much more popular with bees than the more complicated double-flowers that we seem to prefer.

There’s a gorgeous peony just about to burst forth…

And the tree ferns that I admired recently are also doing well. I love the way that the leaves unfurl (they’re called ‘croziers’ after the staff that a bishop carries.

These gladioli are gorgeous (and in my view are much nicer than the ones favoured by Dame Edna Everage – I love the dark red colour, and a bumblebee was enjoying the flower too.

And here’s another tree pit, this time featuring sow thistle and mallow – I rather like the combination of yellow and pink.

And this geranium (possibly ‘Wargrave Pink‘?) was growing in the same tree pit. I’m never sure how much these tree pits are planted, and how much they have planted themselves, but they cheer me up either way.

So, two days to go to the exam, and all I need to do now is go through the ‘pre-seen’ material, and then put my feet up. Time was I would be revising until the wee small hours, but in my experience that means that all you can remember is the thing that you did last as all the information hasn’t had time to ‘settle’. But of course, everyone is different. Any last minute tips, Readers? How did/do you cope with exams? Are you glad they’re over, or are you still in the middle of them? And big hugs to anyone else with exams coming up, or who has children/grandchildren about to take them. What a stressful time of year this can be!