Bank holiday woods

As promised, the weather has been fine today so Chickpea and I headed to the woods for a quick walk. It felt much more lush and green since the last time we were there gathering wild garlic, and the tree canopy has started to close over. Chickpea was disappointed that the garlic is now well past its best as she'd been hoping for more of the pesto.

We followed the cobbled path upwards towards the light.

In places it's almost disappeared as the grasses and flowers take over.

Cow parsley, red campion and buttercups - so, so pretty.

Emerging at the top is a buttercup-filled field. There's a public footpath past the farm and horses but we were headed back down into the woods.

But not without a last look back at the buttercups before we left.

We were headed to the pond in search of wildlife. We were unlucky though, not a butterfly or dragonfly to be seen.

I did spot a moth which, after trawling through my guidebooks, I think is a Silver-ground carpet.

We were also delighted to see that the iris are in full bloom.

They glowed bright and golden in the sunlight. I don't think they'll last long though. Can you see the dark patches on the iris on the left - they were covered in tiny snails.

The other flower in full bloom was Common bistort.

The bees absolutely loved it. I'm hoping one of you can tell me what these two varieties are.

As we headed back, we stopped for a paddle. I think this was my favourite moment - it was so calm and peaceful stood in the middle of the stream with the sound of the water trickling over the pebbles, the birdsong and the cool scent of damp greenery.

All too soon though, we had to make tracks but not before a Speckled wood butterfly finally made an appearance. There's always something to see and discover in what's really a very small patch of woodland.

Last but not least, and hot off the camera, the first clematis flower of the season has opened. Seems a nice way to end a bank holiday :) x

Before the harvest

Last time I showed you what we made with our wild garlic harvest. Before we gathered the leaves though, we walked through the woods to see what else we could find.

We passed lots of patches of wild garlic as it grows in abundance in this particular wood. In this area the flowers were yet to open.

In sunnier areas though, the flowers were in full bloom. As I was taking the photo I realised there was something else enjoying them too.

A beautiful and vibrant peacock butterfly who posed quite happily in the sunshine as it helped itself to nectar. This wasn't the only butterfly we spotted that day as there were several fluttering around...

including this Comma....

..a Speckled Wood...

...and a Cabbage White. We also saw several Orange Tips but they didn't land long enough to photograph.

I've since found out that a particular favourite of orange-tip butterflies is this garlic mustard. Next time I'll have to try sitting by a patch and hope one stops by. However, as it took Amanda 5 years of trying to get a photo, I'd better take a picnic!

Just like in the other woods nearby, we came across several patches of wood-sorrel.

And a few red campion.

There were also a few forget-me-nots.

And some ribwort.

I followed a new path downwards and into a clearing and discovered a pond with lots of iris. I didn't even know it was there so I'll definitely be back to see what else appears over the months.

This ladybird was certainly enjoying the sunshine in the clearing.

Finally, these weren't in the woods but you can never have too many photos of ducklings!

Hope you're enjoying the long bank holiday weekend if you're in the UK and the slightly shorter one if you're elsewhere. x

Easter Monday walk

It was such a lovely warm sunny day on Easter Monday that it seemed a good time to make a return visit to the local woods. I was keen to see how much had changed in the few weeks since our last visit. In particular, I was hoping for woodland flowers and I wasn't disappointed.

After seeing hardly any bluebells in the woods at Tatton, it was a relief to see large drifts of them closer to home.

There were also large patches of wood anemone.

White is such a hard colour to photograph up close but I finally found this one in a patch of shade so that I could capture the detail.

I loved how this old tree stump had been colonised by lots of different plants...

...including this pink purslane.

It's also wild garlic season and it was growing in abundance. I liked this little patch looking out over the brook.

And here it is with the flowers partially open.

We weren't alone in the woods as a pair of wizards were quietly making their way through the undergrowth, minding their own business.

More pretty flowers. This is red campion - yes, I know it's pink but I didn't make up the names!

And here's some delicate wood-sorrel.

And an even more delicate speedwell.

Last but not least, we saw our first ever squirrel in these woods. I'm sure there must be lots of them out there but they keep themselves well hidden.

I have to say that I'm no wild flower expert so if I've got any of the names wrong please let me know! I looked them up in my field guide and then cross-referenced against a wonderful web site, English wild flowers: a seasonal guide. It tells you month-by-month which flowers to look out for and has lots of pictures from different angles to help you identify them.

In other wildlife news, the first ducklings have appeared! This proud pair have produced a baker's dozen (13). We've been excitedly watching for the first brood to appear for the last week or two and I was at work when I received a text from Chickpea with the simple message 'Ducklings!!!!'. Needless to say I rushed out to have a look as soon as I got home.

I now have two whole weeks off work and am so ready for the break. Unfortunately, it seems I'm coming down with a cold which is just TYPICAL! The silver lining is that at least I should be over the worst before we go to Verona. For now though, I'm off to sit outside with a brew. Enjoy your weekend. x

Flower Friday

I've really enjoyed having the welly of flowers. The gorgeous, vibrant colours combined with the quirky craziness of a welly vase has made me smile every time I've looked at it.

Gerberas are lovely but they don't last long and, before the week was out, they'd started to droop and curl. It seemed such a shame and I wanted to extract every last moment of pleasure from them. Time to dig out my trusty trifle bowl and create a new display.

Success! Within an hour, the flowers looked fresh again and were so gorgeous floating in the water with the glass pebbles sparkling underneath.

It looks so pretty in the evening too lit up with a floating candle. Almost a week later and they're still going strong.

I couldn't let the welly go to waste though. The foliage was still looking fresh so, a bunch of cheap carnations later and a new display was born.

A more subtle and tasteful colour combination this time but just as effective. This welly is going to run and run ;-)