A Woodland Walk in Early April

This morning's sun tempted hubby and I to go for a walk locally. None of the boys were keen to join us ( eldest is fully of cold and the other two still have a bad allergy...to walking! )

I decided we should head to the nearest woodland. Now the days are longer than the nights, and the sun has a little more heat, the landscape is looking prettier by the day.

All that fresh green makes my heart sing.

 I think I love spring so much because it is a season of firsts. New growth and the first sightings of favourite flowers always makes me smile. The delicate Wood anemones caught my eye.

And the Celandines shone in the sunshine.

New Birch leaves unfurling.

and old trees with great texture.

Here I smiled at this patch of sunny woodland floor, with Primroses, Wood anemones and Celandines.

There's still a lot of sunlight reaching through the trees and giving the early plants a good start.

The woodland really felt a special place this morning.

The first Bluebells. How perfect.

I spent a lot of time staring upwards, trying to spot the birds we could hear, without any luck.
 I'm not very good at recognising birdsong...but I did identify the Chiffchaff. It's song sounds like it's name. Hear it HERE.

 Suddenly there is so much green, and yellow.

 It's a very welcome sight and I can't wait to return in a few weeks to see the Bluebells at their best. Spring is just wonderful, don't you think.
Jacquie x

Reasons to be Cheerful

Hello again Lovelies,
I think I'm the sort of person who generally feels blessed. I've written it here often enough. I'm blessed to have my family, blessed my own mum is still well, blessed I can work part time, blessed I'm healthy (touch wood).
These are the big things I am thankful for.  Don't get me wrong, sometimes I feel annoyed and upset by stuff.  When that happens getting outdoors generally lifts my mood.
This week my walking group were blessed with the best day of the week weather wise. Thursday morning was cold but sunny and I loved walking through the winter woodland.......

Then stopping for a coffee from my flask in this sunlit glade.... and being given home made cake by our walk leader.

 I'd never heard of Porter cake but it was yummy. A moist and tasty fruit cake. I've found a recipe HERE. I might try and make it myself.

As we walked further through the woods one of our group noticed this Red Admiral butterfly.... such an amazing sight in January. I felt sorry for the poor, confused thing..........

The colours of the woodland and the green fir trees did make it look like somewhere continental rather than Blighty in January ...........

as we came out into open countryside the fields were full of free range pigs, each with it's own shelter it seemed. "Is that what they call Glamping?" one of the group asked....and we all laughed......

Lunch was in a very neat little churchyard...that even had a sweet model of the church in the lawn........

I do love my walking group...but I also like to explore a little on my own. So while they were still eating I wandered off to look a little further..........

and came across this strange ruin in the cemetery.........

and I loved the far reaching  views, both back towards those glamping pigs........

and across rolling fields of green...........

Here's the ruin from the other side. I couldn't weigh it up...thankfully the internet provided the answers. It was made from parts of a ruined Saxon church that stood on this site.....so they are over 1000 years old.......

and this spot is alleged to be the resting place of Will Scarlet. How interesting. I love discovering things like this.

In the afternoon the clouds and wind built, but we tramped on and  smiled at the pigs.........

and these cute cottages..........

this cottage even had a famous character looking out of the window........

 Did you spot Tintin?

It was a whole day walking...well you can see on my phone it was from 10am till about 4pm. We covered 12 miles ( and that's my longest walk since last July)..........

yay...a great reason to feel cheerful.

This weekend my growing collection of cheerful Log Cabin granny squares were arranged to make diagonal stripes......

Ummmm, that reminded me of something.

I got out my old photo album and found this snap from 1984. I know exactly what year it was, as this new fangled "Continental Quilt " was my 18th birthday present...and look what cover I chose for it :0)............

 a replacement for my green candlewick bedspread and blankets :0)

 We had some lovely sunshine again yesterday and I even hung out some washing, then noticed my neighbour had done the same...........

Indoors I love that this batch of mini daffs are not so leggy ...a sign the light levels are improving?

 The droplets on the glass were courtesy of eldest who was outside with the hose washing my car...and kitchen window ( his idea...bless him).

My third lot of Hyacinths are also flowering.......



I accidentally knocked of one of the flowers...so I popped it on bird's head...

 Cute hat :0)

A good book is certainly a reason to feel cheerful. I picked up this book in the library last week........

Another book called walking home ( I read THIS one last winter).  It's very different to Simon's book.....but happily just as good. Clare writes in a easy to read style and this book wont last me much longer. It's funny and touching and full of emotion. It's also introduced me to Clare's Radio 4 programme called Ramblings...how had I never heard of this?...well quiet easily I suppose as I'm not a radio 4 listener. I love the format of walking and talking to interesting people in some of the most wonderful parts of the U.K. ..........

 Happily there are podcasts......yes yes, I can listen to them at my leisure. I've already enjoyed 3 of the 156 programmes currently available. Listening to them on my phone while I'm cooking is great...but I could do with some plug in speakers to make the sound quality better.

 They are so inspiring. I now want to walk Kinder Scout (preferably with Mike Harding alongside to sing I'm a rambler as he does at the start of THIS episode). Oh and the Mourne Mountains sound amazing. Oh and Windsor Great Park.....and the South Downs. I could go on.
As I said...very inspiring :0)

 I'm looking forward to walking in some new places this year....but I'm always happy to walk familiar paths too.

 Saturday afternoon Was prefect for a quick blast of fresh air..........

The Snowdrops are flowering by the church...........

Such cheerful harbingers of spring.....but be careful if you crouch down to get a low angle shot of these little beauties.....as you may get stung on the bottom for your effort.........

 Like I did .

I'll finish this long and somewhat rambling post ( get it ) with a photo of the cheerful pink house I often pass ....it never usually shows up as pink in my photos....but this time it did........

Well done if you made it this far. Wishing you all a cheerful week Lovelies.
Jacquie x

Meanwhile this week

Hello Lovelies,

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on my Yorkshire posts. I'm  touched that you take the time out of your busy lives to write such interesting and caring comments.

I always forget how unsettled I can feel after a trip back to my childhood places....so it's been nice to have this week at home with my boys....a gentle week to readjust and appreciate my life right now. Life is good, and I've had plenty of opportunity to get out walking. That always lifts my spirits.

My favourite places are looking so pretty.........

And it's been lovely to have the company of all of my boys on different walks..........

The Celandines are still flowering, shining prettily along the roadside............

And the Highland cattle have another baby...............

I've been collecting Daffodils.....not literally....but photos of all the different types I walk past......

Love these lemony ones with twisted petals.........

And these with pretty orange centres..........

The double ones in bright shades.......

and pale...........

and these simply delightful beauties...........

Above my head to blossom has been wonderful...........

and in town the lovey dovey pigeons have made us smile........

The longer days have even brought the opportunity to get out for a family evening walk beside the river.......

Where the light and the reflections were fabulous...........

The tree silhouettes were perfect...........

and the peaceful atmosphere was so relaxing............

Later in the week the fields really looked yellow..........

The butterflies continued to enjoy the warm weather...........

The hedgerows turned green............

And lambs returned to the field at the end of our street :0)

It's been a simple, but special week off at a special time of year.

This part of the world has delighted me .... the people I share my life now are wonderful.....I am truly blessed.

Jacquie x