Strong wind, which has dried the soil greatly, but beautiful spring weather in the morning. In the evening overcast, but no rain. Violets out in great numbers everywhere. Larks singing, the first I have heard this year, though most years one hears them much earlier than this. Partridges pairing, rooks & seagulls not yet. A few tulips forming heads. Arabis well out. Note that a few of the carrots I left in the ground were not destroyed by the frost, though most went to mush.
Sowed broad beans, & some in box to fill up gaps. Cleared the ground where peas & parsnips are to go. Dug a little more.
17 eggs.
[1] Orwell originally wrote this date as 1.3.40. Peter Davison
Orwell Diaries 1938-1942 
Irises are blooming. Daffodils have come and gone. Tiny buds appeared on roses yesterday. Breezy. Warm enough for short pants and flip-flops. Children throughout the neighborhood screaming incessantly for no [apparent] reason. Vehicles coated heavily with green pollen which, when viewed from an angle, makes my truck look moldy. Expecting a thunderstorm tomorrow.
Pingback: Orwell in Spring - A natural history of Britain -