It was such a glorious day in Nottingham today that we had to walk around in it. We took a picnic lunch to the Arboretum, which is over our back fence. It’s Nottingham’s oldest public park: it was designated under the Inclosure Act of 1845.

Plenty of Nottinghamites were there enjoying the sun and the perfumed air. Unlike at home, where everyone sits in the shade on blue-sky days, here everyone was basking in the sun. We did, too.

Spring flowers, Nottingham Arboretum, UK

Brilliant colour at the arboretum

We’ve been away for four days. When we left, the trees were starting to hang out their newly minted greenery and blossom, but it exploded in our absence. The daffodils have almost finished, but the early-flowering trees are suddenly heavy with blossom, and the leaves on the deciduous trees are filling out. Having lived among evergreens for so long, we’d forgotten that the deciduous species come into leaf at different times, so that some trees still look bare from a distance, while others wear a noticeable spring halo.

The tree below our window is in full bloom, too. The pink of the flowers contrasts pleasingly with the bronze of the new leaves.

Suburban tree in flower, spring, Nottingham, UK

The tree beneath our window