Ilkeston - Just Around The Corner
w/e 23 February 2014
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

Some parts of the country have been flooded since Christmas and others have suffered severe damage with high winds and surging seas. Here in the East Midlands we have got off pretty lightly and although we've had some gales and heavy rain, the misery this has caused has been minimal compared to other areas. We've had hardly any snow worth mentioning and none of the disruption of previous years. There's obviously still time for the weather to deteriorate before it gets better but even so, as early as mid February, the signs of spring are fast becoming apparent.

Rose Bush

Rose bushes pruned back in the autumn are showing some strong healthy growth with a promise of some good blooms to come later.
Dandelion

Not so welcome are the dandelions already beginning to flower. A farmer once told us that once the weeds started to grow, the soil was warm enough to start planting. It looks like we'll have to do some weeding first though.
Park Avenue

One of the first heralds of spring, the snowdrop, can be seen at various places in town and these are on the top of a stone wall on Park Avenue.
'Illy 'Oleys

Just around the corner from the previous image, yellow crocuses are beginning to push through the sodden ground on 'Illy 'Oleys and other colours will not be far behind.
Churchyard

A solitary clump of snowdrops are to be found in the churchyard at St Mary's in the Market Place and stand out amid the green of the grass near the Memorial Garden.
Red, White & Purple

They don't show up too well here but there are spindly purple crocuses on the left of this picture with more white snowdrops on the far right at the Red House on Wharncliffe Road.
Victoria Park

Crocuses are also beginning to appear in Victoria Park but it's the clumps of snowdrops that are more obvious at the moment.
Headstones

The final three images here were all captured at the Stanton Road Cemetery where just inside the entrance a couple of the headstones are surrounded by snowdrops.
Tree Fungus

Maybe not so much a sign of spring but a result of a damp winter is the fungal growth on several of the tress in the cemetery. This one watched over by the sentinel figure of the wooden sculpture of the Ilson Giant, Samuel Taylor, also provides shelter for some of the birds that frequent the area.
Daffodils

Finally looking over the wall from Stanton Road into the cemetery, the daffodil buds are shooting up. Some of the images above were captured just around the corner from home but wherever you are in Ilkeston, surely it's spring that is just around the corner.

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