The End of May

Hello Lovelies,

are you fed up with all my pictures of the May countryside yet? I am totally addicted to it...sorry.

I've been walking again, through fields of green and yellow.........

Watching the wheat get taller in the fields..........

and stopping frequently to admire the Hawthorn blossom .........

It hasn't all been blue skies, on Friday ( and again today) we have had rain. But the flowers in my front garden still look so pretty in the damp...........

Especially the Poppy buds, I thought.......

Yesterday the sun was out again, and in the sheep field the Ewes were sporting new hair do's.........

And their lambs look so big!....the horizontal one was fine...chewing the cud as it relaxed in the sun.

In my friend's garden I was enchanted by the colour of these wall flowers...........



and envious of the prefect Lupins..........



There were beautiful roses in bloom too. This unfurling bud caught my eye.........

So delicate and dreamy....just gorgeous.

I have managed to spend a little time indoors. For my eldest two boys ( my twins ) birthday cake,  I slung too many eggs in a bowl..........

 It was THIS recipe tripled. 

Gosh, it was a lot of mixture, and rather a messy experiment if I'm honest...........

But it worked, and I ended up with two large, rectangular cakes...........

When they were cool I added some simple butter-cream, and dusted the top with icing sugar......

It was all a bit rough and ready, including the 15 candles...........

 But it did taste good, and there plenty to go round.

For this years cake I certainly would not earn a place on the Great British Bake Off

But I do think that my friend Jo might!

Just look at the  amazing cake she made for her daughter recently........

Isn't it wonderful.....I'm in awe.

Jacquie x

Another Beautiful Evening

Hello Lovelies,

yesterday was yet another beautiful evening, and with a change in the weather forecast I simply had to get outside again. 

These are the days I dream of in the middle of winter. So it seems a crime to sit inside when I could be outside....making the most of every moment. Nobody wanted to join me, but that was fine. I like my own company.

I took all these pictures on my phone again...and this time I haven't cropped any. 

The best way to view them will be to click on the first, then scroll through them in the light box. 

I LOVE the way this size of picture fills the screen...well it does on my desk top. 

I'll let the photos do the talking....same route as the previous night....but walked in the opposite direction :0)

Yep....I'm STILL in love with May :0)

Jacquie x

Strolling in the Evening Sunshine

Hello Lovelies,

Yesterday evening I went out for a walk and purposely left my camera behind. My phone camera is pretty good and I'm slowly getting used to it.

Of course it's the light that makes all the difference....and the light was beautiful yesterday evening.

The Cow Parsley is at it's absolute best at the moment.......I loved the way the sun was illuminating it here..........

It's everywhere....and so pretty. I always think it's like the world is decorated in lace, ready for a wedding.........

What do you lovelies call this plant? I was talking to my sister in law about how much I love it and she looked at me blankly. "It's everywhere" I said......" white frothy stuff"
She was still not sure. In the end I showed her a photo...." Oh, Blind man's Pepper" she said.......well, that's a new one on me :0)

My phone actually takes rather elongated shots, not deal for the blog....so I've cropped a lot, but a few I've left.......you should be able to click on this and see it bigger...........

Everywhere is looking so fresh and lush.............

And the tall grasses in the paddock waved gently in the lightest breeze............

The footpath is just a narrow channel in the vegetation..........

And the stiles are disappearing into the undergrowth.........

One thing my phone camera is not good at is zooming....the highland cows are there somewhere :0)

But it is good at capturing colour ......... the greens are amazing at the moment.........

And it does reasonable macro shots. I love the tiny wild geraniums along the verges..........

On the golf course the low sun was stunning.........

And my walking companion (my Eldest, who is 15 this week !) was making me smile....chattering away at ten to the dozen, about anything and everything.........and balancing in this step over stile...........

It was such a gorgeous evening. We were in no rush to go home.........

The flowers on the rape crop are already fading...........

And the lambs in the field are getting big.........

The year is rushing by so quickly now and my front garden is FILLED with flowers.........

I'm still in love with May :0)
Jacquie x

Out and About :: Bluebell Time

Hello Lovelies,
one of my absolute favourite times of year is Bluebell time. It's another reason May delights me so.

Last week the walking group went on a "Bluebell Walk".....bliss.
It's a shame the weather was dull....and even more of a shame I managed to forget my Camera.....something I NEVER normally do!

Still, I do have a new phone and thankfully it takes reasonable pictures.

I loved wandering through the woodland, and I was so happy to see our first glimpse of intense blue........

the round thing you can see in the photo is a charcoal kiln.

Gosh I'm rubbish with a touch screen.... :0)

After a while we climbed steeply up through the trees and emerged at this beautiful view.......

It was a perfect place for our coffee stop

 Next the path  descended steeply down again. Into a place known locally as the "Hidden Valley". It was such a pretty spot...........

Then we were back in the most beautiful woodland....where the carpet of blue was truly magical........

And happily I managed to finally take some in focus shots with my phone camera.....



just in time :0)

I went home happy. How I love Bluebell time.

Jacquie x