Come Gentle Spring ...Come

"Come, gentle spring! Ethereal mildness!Come"

~ James Thompson, The Seasons, Spring 1726~

It's official now! Its the vernal equinox today- the first day of spring in the Northern hemisphere! The hours of day and night are equal in length, and from now on, we gradually see an increase in daylight hours as we move through spring towards our summer (fingers crossed).

I love spring, that beautiful time of the year when everything seems to take on a greenish hue. The branches of every tree and bush are covered with tiny buds just waiting for the warmth of the sun to burst out into leaf.

The daffodils are bursting out into bloom, except in my garden. They are still growing and some are budding.  A few had flowered – hopefully the first of hundreds that will bloom in the grassy stretch in front of the casa and also those in the pots.

Today at work, my colleagues were busy checking out whether their street was included in Google Street View. The service gives users the ability to take a virtual tour of cities mapped from thousands of specially-taken photographs, was launched yesterday in the UK. Babe said that he saw the specially modified Google Street View cars, which are fitted with 360-degree photographic equipment, cruised down our cul-de-sac.

Accessible via Google Maps, Street View captures not only the landmarks of the cities covered; it also gives a snapshot of everyday life, with other cars and pedestrians photographed in the same detail as the streets around them. This has led to concerns over whether the mapping constitutes an invasion of privacy, and even allegations that it may aid potential criminals to plan crimes.

Do you think Street View is an invasion of privacy, or a fun and useful navigational tool? I think it is useful and fun to take a virtual tour of just about any location. The privacy issue is a valid. I can see why people worry (me too) about their privacy being invaded even though Google claims they have used advanced software technology to blur both faces and licence plates.

From Street View, we saw Benzy being parked outside our casa with blurred license plates. It was taken in summer last year cos I could clearly see my sweet peas and geraniums in full bloom. CC was taken aback to catch a glimpse of her furry pal perched on the window sill :-)

On Tuesday, DB and I got on the 8.11 am train for London. We are attending another Metadata workshop. We were lost in translation on the first course last year and requested for a refresher. Thank goodness we did and it was mission accomplished. I'm even confident enough to share my knowledge with my colleagues.

Since we got time to kill, we decided to check the Medicine man exhibition at the Wellcome library. We have passed this beautiful building several times but never had the chance to check it out. The exhibition gives you the creep especially the surgical tools. We just gave it a glance and moved to the next glass cases.

There were very interesting ephemera. Those that stick to my mind were Napoleon Bonaparte's toothbrush, Henry VIII lock of hair, Florence Nightingale's moccasins (she has big feet), tattooed human skins, a guillotine blade, an etching by van Gogh, shrunken heads and mummified bodies. Man...I'd nightmares just thinking of them.

It was also St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday and if you have a wee bit of Irish in your blood like Babe, you might like an Irish theme dinner. But I was soo tired that we settled for a takeaway curry. I'm still thinking of making Irish Stew and Colcannon this weekend. Sorry sans Guinness.

Do checkout this beautiful close-up of a long tailed tit. Isn't she lovely? Babe got this beautiful shot using his latest toy, a Sigma lens 170-550.

Do have a lovely weekend. I’m hoping to catch up this weekend outside cos the weatherman predicted that the sun's coming out to play tomorrow.