Kings Flowers

At this time of year the flowers on the Cambridge Backs look splendid. The ones in the photo were on the approach to Kings earlier today.

Alboran Island

Since childhood, small isolated islands have fascinated me. Until yesterday I had never heard of Alboran Island or the Alboran Sea.

See http://www.evs-islands.com/2008/02/isla-alboran-sp-isolated-mediterranean.html .

Daffodils

For a few weeks my wife has wanted to see the daffodils at Hare Park, Chippenham, Cambs. Today we went.  A few weeks ago there was a splendid carpet of snowdrops. The daffodils were disappointing; several clumps had no buds. Although there were daffodils in flower, there were far fewer than we expected.

Tree Trunk

We saw this on a recent walk. The pattern is great.

Returning Summer Bird Migrants

Slowly, the summer bird migrants are returning. Already in Devon there are wheatears, sand martins and swallows. At first just the odd one, whereas by mid April, many will be commonplace once again.

Newmarket

This is our "local" town where we do most of our food shopping. Considering it is world famous as the home of racing, it is actually quite an average sort of place that could do far more to make it look better.

There are lots of short people (jockeys) and drivers of "Chelsea Tractors" who own studs or racehorses or train these.

Considering the wealth some of these people must have, I am quite surprised Newmarket isn't a really splendid town. The photo shows Newmarket High Street on an average weekday.

HIV/aids Treatment Coming?

A UK patient with HIV who also has cancer is reportedly showing no detectable traces of HIV after undergoing stem cell treatment. I believe this the second reported stem cell success in the battle against HIV/aids. A proper treatment may still be some years away, but there is hope. Already drug treatments have changed HIV/aids to a condition that some people live with rather than die from.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47421855 .