The amazing Eliot!

Or ... Eliot's ability to sniff out chocolate knows no limits!

And just while I was waiting for this photograph to load I unwrapped (very quietly and carefully) a chocolate that had been in an Easter Egg and ... guess who's at my feet now!  The dog with the sensitive nose and very sharp hearing!
Today was always going to be a very quiet and lazy day.  At one point I wondered if I'd even have the energy to take a photograph!  With some evening sunshine I thought the Lay figures represent well the lazy feeling of the day ... just lying about doing nothing.  Unopened the luxury Easter Egg looked like the perfect prop .. so ... all was ready for a photo-shoot when Eliot appeared.  He's been quietly dozing at the end of the garden but the aroma must have wafted in his direction and suddenly he wanted a piece of the action - or a piece of the chocolate!  It wasn't exactly the picture that I'd planned but it was fun to catch him trying to find the source of the smell.

 The figure that doesn't have a broken arm is the one I call "Lay About".  And that's exactly what I've done today.  Earlier I read a comment on someone's blog that was something like, "Easter - Christ is risen and the clergy are dead!"  Certainly last night and today have been very low lying indeed.

 Horizontal meditation is the order of the day ... and a little bit of pampering ...

 Just look at the contents of this egg!  Extraordinary and very, very good chocolate.  No wonder the dog wouldn't leave my feet ... and that's odd when the camera is around!  Obviously the attraction of chocolate outweighs the dislike of the lens.

 You can see that the grass isn't in great shape ... it needs a few weeks to recover from the winter torment of ice and waterlogged conditions ... maybe a feed would help it too?  If tomorrow is fine I may find the energy to do that!

Today I tidied up the Willow shelter ... a bit like an igloo except there are a few gaps in the sides that need to be filled in.  But it does provide a very private shelter at the bottom of the garden and hopefully the roots will assist in drainage as that area is particularly damp underfoot.  Maybe if I spent an hour or two sorting out the garden from time to time it would look a bit neater!
This blog entry should have had something about Saint Mark - after all - this is Saint Mark's Day ... but all I can think of is a piece of fairly useless information that I discovered this morning.  Only twice in the period 1875 - 2124 will Saint Mark's Day fall on Easter Monday.  That's this year, 2011 and 2095.  I imagine that only a few young children alive now will be able to see both of these dates ... and it's doubtful if many of us will be around to say in 2095 that we were also enjoying Easter Monday in 2011!

Almighty God, 
who enlightened your holy Church 
through the inspired witness of your evangelist Saint Mark: 
Grant that we, being firmly grounded 
in the truth of the gospel, 
may be faithful to its teaching both in word and deed; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Book of Common Prayer

Collect of Saint Mark's Day