Books, Garden and a Walk Round Temple Fields at Temple Balsall
Recent Reading
This book which I bought second hand as I suspect it is now out of print is superb. It describes a year in the life of a meadow and is full of the most beautiful paintings and drawings. Highly recommended and a book to treasure and read again and again.
Still enjoying this Stephen Booth series - for some reason I couldn't get up the proper cover to take a photo.
I always enjoy Kate Atkinson's books - she is a brilliant writer and in this story Jackson Brodie, the private detective, is back on the scene.
Garden
Monbretia
I think I may have finally identified this mystery plant - I think it may be Lesser Calamint?
Passion Flowers continue to appear.
Bryony berries
I've not seen many Leaf Cutter bees yet this year and I think mason bees filled these holes in the bug hotel earlier in the year.
Phlox
Golden Rod will soon be in full flower - it is a magnet for hoverflies, bees and butterflies.
Temple Fields
Yesterday D and I drove over to the Temple Fields Natural Burial Ground at Temple Balsall. Some of you may recall that I visited last year and found a vast meadow just full of wild flowers and humming with pollinators. It was quieter than on our last visit to this area and initially we were the only car in the car park although two more did arrive later and we saw a couple of people at a distance.
Ragwort
Bittersweet - it is a member of the Nightshade family and thus poisonous and so care should be taken and the berries avoided!
Steps down towards Temple Balsall NR.
Mallow
Wild Carrot Seedhead
We went through the gate into this meadow as D could hear grasshoppers. You might know as soon as we had got in the field they stopped!
Knapweed is now past its best but trefoils are flowering everywhere.
Wild Carrot
Small Copper - we also saw a lot of Meadow Browns and a few Gatekeepers.
Unfortunately I had left Timothy at home as I only really took the camera and some hand sanitiser but he would have been annoyed to know that there was a little teddy bear he could have said hallo to in the car parked next to ours!
*D
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It was a lovely wander for an hour and good to get out for a while to one of my favourite places. Life still seems so unreal and strange at the moment. The country seems divided between those like us who are still very cautious about going out and those people who seem to be living almost normal lives - going shopping, to the pub and for meals, on holiday and on crowded beaches! I hope everyone is staying safe and well.
*D Photos taken by my son with the Canons SX50 bridge camera
Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.
I do believe that lovely book is out of print, or it's selling for silly money, as I abandoned attempts to buy a copy of my own. I love wild carrot, possibly my favourite of the wild umbels, which are a particular favourite group of mine. I know Timothy won't see it this way, but he is probably better off and safer at home right now.
ReplyDeleteRustic Pumpkin - Thank you. I bought it from Amazon I think a year to 2 years ago. Can't remember how much it was but I wouldn't have paid silly money for it. Yes Wild Carrot is lovely - it and Cow Parsley are my favourite.
ReplyDeleteI am very careful how Timothy travels ever since he fell out of my pocket on Anglesey!!! He stays in my day out rucksack but when just popping out locally for a few hours I don't take it. Plus with all the palaver of hand sanitising and using disposable gloves etc. I thought he was best as you say at home!! I sound like Howard Hughes but I've also filled a little bottle spray with dettol surface cleanser which I can use to spray things like gate catches when out! My daughter had the idea as she takes one to work just for her own use! What a world we live in now when it has come to this! :(
Glad you were able to get out and about to one of your favourite local places. All the wildflowers are lovely. We saw a couple of Gatekeepers on our walk yesterday but none today just whites and skippers. I think I photographed some wild carrot yesterday, also lots of purple vetch across the fields. Your garden fowers are lovely too. Glad you are still enjoying reading Stephen Booth and Priscilla Masters also Kate Atkinson. A Year in the Meadow looks such a lovely book. We won't be going to a beach or restaurant in the near future. Although I'd dearly love to walk along a deserted beach, ah well! Stay safe and well:)
ReplyDeleteRosie - Thanks so much. A small problem when we got there as my son misunderstood and thought we were going to Shadowbrook Meadow! He is not keen on burial grounds or churchyards so was not initially happy! Still the grasshoppers heard cheered him up :) Thank goodness for books at the moment and a chance to escape into another world! Yes I miss the yearly visit to the sea - I am sure you could find a deserted beach in some areas but I wouldn't fancy stopping anywhere over night. I miss some of my favourite pubs but I don't want to go anywhere like that atm although some of Brian's friends have been. Stay safe and well too :)
ReplyDeleteI am just saying but I really recommend : http://www.naturescape.co.uk/
ReplyDeleteIt is the best shop on earth! I really recommend it.
That's a beautiful walk
ReplyDeleteWhen the National Park started to open up the Coast Path, they actually advised people to sanitise their hands when using styles and gates, so your disinfectant sanitiser is a good idea. By using that you may be helping others who come after you.
ReplyDeleteEdward Evans - Thanks so much for the book shop recommendation. I will have a look later.
ReplyDeleteSimon Douglas Thompson - Thanks so much.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thank you. After we had sprayed and then opened the gate back to car park a man who had just arrived opened it pulling the sleeve of his fleece over his hand. I nearly said don't worry its just been blasted with an anti viral spray! The notice by gate warning the virus lasts 72 hours on hard surfaces is a trifle offputting!!
That looks like a glorious place for a walk. Not a bad place to be buried in either! Are the trees marking the graves?
ReplyDeleteWe are also cautious. We wore masks indoors even before it became law and I always wear gloves, mostly actually just to remind me not to touch my face. I have no desire to eat out as the thought of putting food in my mouth that some unknown person has prepared is realy offputting! I do miss 'normal' life and going out to eat, but we are stay at homes anyway. Done our partying and socialising when we were younger, lol!
Millymollymandy - Hi Mandy - so sorry for late publication of your comment but we have been in Herefordshire and I didn't come on Blogger.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the trees are marking graves in many cases. Yes, I wear gloves too when out even if just walking. Still haven't been indoors anywhere apart from a visitor centre a few days ago. I agree about unknown person preparing food! I miss pubs a lot even though we never really went that often and when we did it was mainly for a meal - much cheaper to drink at home these days and not have to worry about someone being a designated driver! Amazing how busy pubs look though when you drive past them! lol! You are right about the partying and socialising!