When you least expect it

Owls in shopping centres! I got to hold a tiny Scops owl, and David went for a barn owl.

Eggs and flowers

Spring has finally sprung! It was a long time coming, and seemed to involve an awful lot of chocolate.

I did manage to find some bunnies not made of chocolate, these towelling ones were very cute.

Giant Smarties.

The windows of the Laderli chocolate shop on Bahnhofstrasse.

White chocolate with or without strawberry? Someone must like it.

Giant coloured eggs.

Baskets full of little chocolate bunnies and chickens.

I'm not sure that's what you wanted to say. Or is it "cite your sources"?

Next up, the opulent Sprungli windows.

Bunny cake, anyone?

I like the decorated egg-cases.

Ikea were doing a brisk trade in mini orchids.

Why no, I couldn't resist. It's not doing too well - one flower bloomed then dried out, then all the buds turned yellow and fell off, but it's had one more flower since and seems to be hanging in there.

Been doing some baking too. This is a yoghurt/applesauce recipe with blueberries. Very nice but does not keep for long. (As in goes fuzzy, not necessarily that we ate them all. Even I can only get through so many at home on my own. But we have a freezer, and now a microwave.)

Presents from California and Japan, including pumpkin seeds! I may just have to try growing them, they're mini ones. After all that work I went to talking myself out of it.

At the amazing Ah Hua II off Langstrasse, the incredible dessert of pumpkin filled with two types of pudding. Just wow.

Because fence panels on the roof of a Beetle on a windy day are such a good idea.

Despite the bad weather, the plants in the garden centre had decided it was spring.

Cherry trees!

There were lots of different types, but I'm a sucker for the standard ones.

These drooping ones were a huge hit with the bumblebees.

These or the pink Nigras were my favourites. I did go back with half a mind to get one, but it was raining, the earth was waterlogged and they're not that small. The next time I went back, they were almost past full flower and even bigger than I remembered. Maybe next year. (I can see myself ending up with a pine and plum to go with my maple. Maybe one of those water features.)

The droopy Koujou no Mai.

Not sure I'd seen these before, but they were very nice.

And just by the side of the road - daffodils.

I'm off to Edinburgh for the first time tomorrow, first to go to the Genetics Society spring meeting, then David is coming over for a few days of tourism. We just catch the end of the International Science Festival, so will probably go to one or two things from that. Then I'll stay on to head down to Newcastle/Gateshead for the ITI conference. It's a bit odd to be away for so long, but looking forward to it. And when I get back, planting!