My sister Paula recently sent us this splendidly luxurious insectarium. And it has seen its first guest. On my way out, I noticed a tired bumble bee had landed low down on the outside wall of the house. We know that bees sometimes just run out of puff and need to rest, especially when temperatures are low.

With the aid of a handy postcard, I transferred the bumble bee to the "door" of the insectarium whereupon the bee walked straight in and made itself at home. It stayed until the following day's sun had restored enough of its energy for it to be able to fly off.

When I checked, the insectarium was also home to an earwig but I suspect that might be the concierge. The insectarium is now officially called the Bee B & B, or "threebie" for short.

Ngaio's away in Salzburg, organising an exhibition of work so it's just us chickens today. Off to Sladers Leigh to keep an eye on progress on an overcast day.

English Nature's description of Rose Wood mentions "Meadow saffron", also known as "Autumn crocus" and which we have photographed flowering in Kings Wood. This is the spring form - just leaves in spring, the flowers bloom in autumn. Weird.

Ngaio's been keen to spot the first anemone of the year ... this one's a bit nibbled but a welcome sight nevertheless.

A photographer's dilemma: which camera? I took along the Minolta as well as the little Ixus because I expected to do some macro work. I used both, just to get a sense of the differences in the image. This is Common Toothwort and a White Violet.

We didn't expect to see Ladys Smock blooming, its other common name is "Mayflower". It was actually blooming a few days ago, in late February.

Another plant mentioned in the English Nature description of Rose Wood is "Dog's Mercury" and it's also abundant in Kings Wood.

Finally, just to make a point: the Spindle tree is unremarkable for most of the year.

The railway track borders are inhabited by rabbits for much of the stretch between Axbridge and Shute Shelve tunnel. In the border adjoining the horses' field lives a family of rabbits with distinctive white markings, the "BF" rabbits from posts passim.

Recapping: a few years ago, the railway rabbits in the horses' field were joined by a couple of white domestic runaways who interbred with the natives. The offspring were mostly brown with extensive white markings, including a white blaze on the nose. In the three subsequent generations (that we have observed) the extent of the white markings has shrunk and the latest generation has just a splash of white on the shoulder and the blaze on the nose.

Ngaio observed that, from a rabbit's perspective, a white blaze on the nose is somewhat unfortunate and speculated whether the other rabbits called it "Bumface". I'm saddened to relate that this appellation has persisted, albeit abbreviated to "BF".

BF rabbits seem acutely conscious of their high visibility. Where other rabbits often browse openly, unconcerned at one's passing by, BF rabbits invariably either dash for the burrow or hide in the grass. The only way to get a good look at a BF rabbit is through binoculars. That hasn't stopped us trying to get a photo but thus far we haven't been able to get anything usable.

We've been working on the latest BF, who we saw last year as a young 'un, telling him what a fine rabbit he is, etc, etc. This strategy, daft as it sounds, has paid off. BF is now prepared to sit and be photographed. And he is a fine rabbit. Or she is.

Back at the beginning of January, through an introduction made by Rupert Gredler, Helen and I were offered an opportunity to hold an exhibition of our work at Kunst Raum Vierhauser, Salzburg. We accepted the offer almost without hesitation, our only real concern was that the opening date was set for 7th March and we knew, even without our "day jobs", that it would take a lot of effort to organize and publicize the event in such a short time space ... it did!

Eight rather frenetic weeks later and the room was looking great and was ready for the opening night. Our efforts were rewarded by a wonderful (and well attended) evening. Rupert kindly agreed to introduce the exhibition; his speech was thought provoking, considered and affecting.

We have put up a website : www.between-you-and-me.com in support of the exhibition, where the full text of Ruperts speech is available. An english language translation will follow in due course. There are more photographs from the Vernissage and examples of our work on the "BYAM" site.

Special thanks go to Frau Vierhauser, for allowing us the use of her lovely space and whose assistance in hanging the works was invaluable. And to Rupert Gredler, for his support and for his trust.

Even with the success of the opening night, after weeks of work to bring the exhibition in to being it was almost inevitable that some sense of deflation would follow. Helen suggested the perfect tonic : a trip up the Untersberg.

Being on the mountain is an experience that will stay with me for a long time. The incredible views, the clear air and the excellent company. It's a place where you can leave all your worries behind you and revel in the joy of being. To try to summarize into a few short paragraphs, just wouldn't do the experience justice. So I shall let the photographs speak for me.

Thank you Helen.