It's our eleven year wedding anniversary today and we're heading out for a day off.

Take care,
Sophie

Time flies and so do brimstones. I love this snap taken a few weeks ago!


Take care,
Sophie

The roses have started to bloom and the scent is heavenly. After the rain showers the water droplets only add to the beauty of each flower. Here's some pictures I snapped.
















Take care,
Sophie

Back in late April we made our annual spring visit to Foxley wood to see the bluebells. The usually boggy areas were dry and the car parks were full and it didn't bode too well.
This time it felt very touristy, with people hanging around and speaking loudly. TWO separate parties brought dogs even though it clearly states no dogs - it's a nature reserve!
There were people trampling on areas you are not permitted on... I was grinding my teeth.

I wish people would be more considerate to rules, to others and to the environment.

There was one amazing redeeming bonus which was that for the very first time I could smell the bluebells. Oh it was beautiful! I would describe the scent as faint hyacinth, which is a relief as full strength hyacinth in that quantity would knock you out good and proper. I wonder if the only carry their fragrance while freshly in bloom and if you catch them after that it is lost.









Lesser celandine mixed in.
Above, wood sorrel here and there, below wild strawberries

Grasses...
Early purple orchids



More water avens, love!
Peacock butterfly.

Wood anemone looking pretty in pastel



It could have been a comma but I couldn't quite tell.

A visit of ups and downs this time.
Take care,
Sophie

If I had to pick a favourite blossom it would have to be crab apple blossom. The dainty pink and white petals which decorate the branches each spring are ever so pretty. It's a girly tree for it's flowers even if it's fruit are looked down on. Here's an interesting fact: You can't plant an apple seed and expect to grow a tree of that variety. This is terribly confusing to me but the pollination essentially crossbreeds the fruit (even though the fruits are all the same on one tree?!!) So by planting that seed it's pot-luck what you end up with. Also, most 'crab apple' trees aren't. Only ones with super tiny fruit are true crab apples. The rest are just hybrids. Quite often from discarded apple cores on roadsides.
To get a true breed you use cuttings from the correct tree and graft it on to the host stem. It's amazing stuff, especially the clever people who use one host tree and multiple varieties grow off it.


We delved into apples longer than I anticipated there but this post is a few snaps from a walk in April. We saw an impressive dandelion patch.
Care to have a count up, anyone?

I thought this high up large nest could be that of the buzzard.
When your path takes you through the jet of an irrigator. Fortunately it was a rotating jobby which allowed us to make a well-timed dash for it and avoided the soaking. They are ridiculously powerful so don't play around them!
Two lovely little ground elders. It's everywhere but deserves praise for it's striking colour.

And less appealing chickweed.
Below, Marsh marigold! It's not often I see this.

Pink forget-me-nots. Ooooh fancy.
Drifts of colour to see.

Hawthorns are caked in blooms. They play it safe with late blossoms.
Horse chestnut spires out.

Hi, my name's Sophie and I take hundreds of pictures of weeds.
Take care,
Sophie