It’s spring. Really really spring. Because the hawthorn in the field at home is in full bloom.

And it’s magic.

Well, of course it’s magic – it’s a hawthorn in bloom. It’s a May Tree (yes, in April), also called a faerie tree and it has many names – it’s the Thorn in “Oak, Ash and Thorn”, the buds in “the darling buds of May” and the May Queen’s tree. It features in my forthcoming YA fantasy May Queen (2012, Dial Books for Young Readers).

And because it was my birthday the other day, I got a new camera, and so there are pictures. (Many many pictures in fact, but here are a few).