It's tipping it down this morning in the typical British summer manner. Let's keep our fingers crossed that some warm, sunny weather is coming back our way soon, it's miserable! At the weekend we took a stroll around a delightful little pocket of woodland and although the light was poor and difficult to work with I've got some pictures of what we saw to share with you.
Honeysuckle! The flowers themselves are slightly too spider-like to be attractive to me but the scent more than redeems them as a plant.
So many berries and hips now visible. It was a luscious environment, full of flourishing bushes and trees. As always, I yearned to explore a little deeper and to ensure than no stone was left unturned.
Above: the lords and ladies berries (poisonous) look so intriguing.
Above: I'm not sure about what these glossy berries are. Must look in my book. I do have a tree guide which has not seen much action yet and we all know how dire my knowledge of trees is.
Below: 'shrooms already! Is it fungi time again or is this a sneaky little one out of season? I have a mushroom book too which I intend to use this autumn.
I cannot believe how many hazelnuts (or cobnuts) I am now spotting since discovering the look of the trees and keeping my eyes peeled for them. I've seen more this summer than the entire rest of my life put together. This autumn I'm desparate to collect them when ripe and to make something (even though I deeply suspect that I won't enjoy hazelnuts. I'm not a nut fan but I'm making gradual inroads into this)
Crab apples!
And a wild scabious! Since I've been growing scabious myself on the allotment I have felt particularly keen to spy any growing wild and miraculously I've found two lots growing miles apart in one weekend. Again, this is typical.
Have a wonderful day, stay dry and safe.
Take care,
Sophie
