Sunday 22 May 2011

May Nature Notes

Hello Lovelies ,
Here  is my Nature Notes post for May , I'm rather pleased I've managed to get this done a little earlier this month :0)

Sweet May , how long I have looked forward to your arrival . There are so many beautiful May illustrations in Edith Holdens book this month I've selected a few of my favourites to share with you before we go on an idyllic walk :0)
Here is the page with May's meaning and folk law . You can make this bigger by clicking on it .....


Some beautifully painted wild flowers . I've got the top one in my garden and the other I found on my walk as you will see further down this post.........


The flowers mentioned in this lovely poem are more April blooms in these parts . I love the last line the best  "And welcome thee and wish thee Long " now is the time of year that the months start to seem to fly by for me and May is really zooming along at an alarming rate this year........


Such pretty  little flowers on this page , they look even more gorgeous grouped together and the cute blue speedwell looks a lot like the blue flowers on my new fabric in the background ........


Bluebells get their more accurate name ....wild Hyacinths.........


I need to photograph a butterfly for this months photo scavenger hunt and I have spotted these when I've been out and about but I wasn't fast enough with my camera.....



So , on to my walk and a look at the May nature in these parts one hundred and six years after Edith painted her observations .
This walk was on the 13th , Friday the 13th , but it was a lucky day for me :0)
It was a gorgeous sunny morning and as soon as I had dropped the boys off at school I headed out with my camera
Lovely spring foliage on the trees so fresh and zingy green.........


The Cow Parsley seems to have been outstanding this year . This stuff is as tall as your head and so pretty........


These parts are not so hilly as the part of Yorkshire where I grew up , just gentle rolling hills that are not so easy to capture in a picture. Instead of the stone walls and sheep there are Hawthorn hedges and crops .........


 

It's different but non the less pretty,I do feel happy to have ended up living so close to such lovely countryside.
Opposite this gate is the entrance to my favourite little footpath ...can you see the style almost hidden by the clouds of Cow Parsley ?.........


Further on under the trees the second style is more obvious...........


I wander along the path , I've never bumped into anybody else along here and today it is blissfully quiet again. I notice the leaves of the cow parsley are pretty as well as it's flowers.........



And wonder about the Cuckoo Spit , I know it's not spit and it has nothing to do with Cuckoos !  A great thing about  these nature posts is it makes me find out about these things . Google found me this great Link that explains what it is ....




Here's a favourite of the boys .....sticky weed  ...great for sticking on your grown ups back and sniggering whilst the said grown up pretends not to know what is going on :0)
It's correct name is Goose Grass but that's not so exciting is it ........


 Ohh , such a pretty flower , it's really tiny and I think it's Speedwell , as Edith included in her observations for this month........


Towards the end of the footpath I spot these pretties..........

Edith calls them Pink Campion , but these days they seem to be more commonly known as Red Campion , they are definitely pink though! ...........Anybody who knows more about this please do tell me....


I'm dawdling along the side of a road now ....taking time to notice all the Nature that I would never spot whilst driving ...........



Cars whizz by as I crouch down on the pavement  to observe the busy bees on the Alkanet ( Edith did a picture of this too )
I feel so lucky to have no place to go in a hurry this morning ...........



This is a local church . It's situated down a little lane . I love it's quiet position and simple style.........




The church yard is usually full of wildlife but, as you can see ,the man with his mower has disrupted the peace today..........




Lets move along , through the kissing gate.......


This path is under large trees that make it shady and damp at this time of year. Ideal for ferns........


And what looks  like more cow parsley ..........


But the leaves are different . Some research on this tells me it's Greater Hog weed........


I've spent an enjoyable time outdoors in the warm sunshine ,being quiet and reconnecting with nature at it's prettiest,I suppose it's time to go home now .........



Ha , no this is not my house :0)
I suppose it would be a great place to live but I'm glad that I can honestly say , I'm most content in my average little house . As long as my family is happy and healthy I'm rich in more important things  than money .
Hope you enjoyed our walk
Have a great week
Jacquie x

24 comments:

  1. Thank you sooooo much for sharing that with us - beautiful....

    S x

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  2. Thank you for taking us on your glorious walk. You live in such a beautiful country, these photos are magical.
    Have a great week,
    Anne xx

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  3. I love Edith Holden too. Thanks for taking us along on this beautiful walk with you. You live in an amazing place.

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  4. Thank you, I enjoyed a walk in the English countryside for a change and to compare the flowers to the ones I see when walking..
    Take care

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  5. Such a lovely walk Jacquie! I have lots of those Wild geraniums in my garden! We have lots of gorgeous Cow Parsley here too but I don't remember seeing Pink Campion, I will have to look out for it!
    That was interesting about the Cuckoo Spit too!
    Have a great week!
    Rachel x

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  6. really beautiful pictures, the bumble bee is spectacular. goose grass I learned recently from my brothers' Thai family is eaten in stir fry in Thailand - it's chewy but a bit of a delicacy with my niece. Isn't it surprising how in one week our woodland can change, every time I explore there's something different. Bettyx

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  7. Fab photos especially the bumble bee :)

    Goose grass gets called sticky willy here - the boys had a teacher at school who always referred to it as that!

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  8. When I first arrived in the uk, I lived in Devon and Sussex where the Goose Grass is called 'Sticky-willy' and 'cleavers' Whilst living in Devon I went through a phase of being an extreme vegi-herbi-eco-warrior type person and used cleavers as a tea or an addition to a soup. I have sadly grown up and grown out of the extreme hippydom I used dabble with, but still use a lot of what I learnt. Lovely pictures, and yes it was a lovely day that Friday x

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  9. What a lovely walk. I hate the sticky week stuff the smell of it takes me back to one particular childhood walk when I came back and felt really sick and yukky. So now when I see it it actually makes me shudder. yuk.

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  10. your images fill my head with delight!!!! such beautiful images!...love sticky willy!!!!!
    i felt i was on your walk- heavenly!
    such a beautiful, enchanting time of year.
    i have that book and treasure it ;0)x

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  11. What a lovely walk and great pictures too, I was almost there with you :-)

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  12. enjoyed a nice walk with u..i was siting here bored so i enjoyed it more thnks............

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  13. Fabulous photos - I love the close up of the bumble bee on the flower. The illustrations in your book are beautiful. Thanks for sharing. x

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  14. I have Edith Holden's book too and love looking at it each month. Mine looks a bit different to yours though it must be a different version as mine is like a direct copy of Edith's, all in her handwriting rather than typed.

    May has so far been a crappy month for me and I have been out for a single walk yet so I hvae really enjoyed sharing yours! Beautiful photos :)

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  15. oops, that above is meant to say have NOT been for a single walk

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  16. What a really lovely post Jacquie - makes me want to go out for a wander here, it is a beautiful sunny day. Sadly I am stuck waiting for the plumber to stop 'something' leaking in the bathroom! Really enjoyed your photos x

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  17. I've really enjoyed my virtual walk with you Jacquie, i learn so much from your monthly posts.

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  18. Many thanks for a delightful walk.

    Love from Mum

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  19. Thank you for a lovely walk. Very enjoyable.

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  20. Gorgeous photo's i really needed a walk in the fields today.. beautiful. My middle name is May and so was my nan and her mum. Have a lovely week, dee x

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  21. Hi there.
    I've just found your blog via Andamento, and boy, am I glad I'm here!
    Your lovely photos remind me of some of the walks we make down here and it's interesting to learn the names of some of the plants I didn't know.
    I've had a little cruise around your blog and saw your little crocheted Toadstool - it's very bizarre because I've just completed one which is very similar! (Great minds and all that..!) I'll put it on my blog as soon as I've sewn it up.
    X

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  22. Lovely photos Jacquie. The cow parsley and red campion look particularly pretty.

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  23. Breathtaking... like I was there...

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  24. Nature notes, love it! Really enjoyed the walk, your photos are stunning: so lush and so green. Ahh we live in a beautiful land!
    Jones x

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