E is on holiday this week and she wanted to spend her birthday at the caravan so we spent 3 nights in Herefordshire - sadly yet another too short a break! It was good to return however even if just for 3 nights.
Timothy back on his shelf.
Not sure if I have shown you this before - I do love old British Rail County posters and this is a print of one for Herefordshire which I really like. I've since bought one featuring Weobley which I will take a photo of next time now its up on the wall.
The Herefordshire Oak is now coming into leaf :)
But not the Ash - the Octopus Tree is still bare.
As an old country rhyme says
"Oak before Ash in for a splash
Ash before Oak in for a soak"
Hopefully that may mean it will be drier later in the year rather than the constant rain we have had recently! Although I suspect there is probably not a lot of truth in the saying!
The Constable Tree - still bare too. Not sure which species this tree is but perhaps Ash too??
Last year's herb pot - pleased that parsley survived the winter.
The apple tree is starting to flower - in fact, orchards we passed were full of blossom too.
Honesty and Garlic Mustard in the border under the Hawthorn hedge and Red Campion.
One morning I spotted a pair of Red Legged Partridge on the lawn and gravel in front of next door's caravan. This is a new species for me at the caravan site. I assume like the Pheasants we see there they have managed to escape the attentions of gun shooters after game. Hopefully, they will remain on site and be safe!!
Red Kites were seen several times over the site. The hedgerows are full of flowering Cowslips, Cow Parsley, Greater Stitchwort, Wild Garlic, Garlic Mustard and Bluebells. Hawthorn is coming into flower too. I only detected bats one night on the bat detector during our stay. B has planted a selection of wild flower seeds in the border and re-potted some of the plants in pots.
Monday evening we went for a lovely meal at the Fountain Inn near Tenbury Wells to celebrate E's birthday. (Photo from a previous visit).
One afternoon I visited a church at Birley - St Peter's - which has family connections which I will write about in the next post. It was good to be church crawling again. There are so many churches on my list to visit in Herefordshire.
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one or one of my son's I would appreciate an email first - thanks).
Your garden there is looking lovely - so different from at the beginning! What is the tall long leaved plant in the front of the border, to the left of the Acer? Is it Sorrel?
ReplyDeleteLike this mix of wildflowers in amongst them too, i,e. the Jack by the Hedge with the Honesty and the Red Campion.
I love Red Legged Partridges! Your photos are great. Hope they stay around!
Hope your special trees come into leaf soon. :-)
Millymollymandy - Thanks so much. The plant in question is a teasel - OH was making noises about moving it as so big!!
ReplyDeleteWe like having wildflowers mixed in with the other plants - seems to fit in with the surroundings better.
Thanks re the photos. Exciting seeing the Red Legged Partidges I have to say :)
How wonderful to see the Red-Legged Partridges, they are lovely birds, I hope they stay where they are safe. I still remember the one who came into our garden last year. Glad you had a short break and a lovely family meal. The garden around your caravan is looking lovely. Rain again here today after three lovely days, it is gentle, soft rain though and it does feel warmer. Timothy looks happy to be back on his shelf:)
ReplyDeleteRosie - Thank you. I remember the sighting in your garden - years ago we had one here too (just the one visit). Its raining here today too - the day we left Wednesday was lovely and warm and sunny. I hope we can go back to Herefordshire soon for longer although you might know my washing machine conked out today with loads of washing outstanding and I can't get an engineer visit for nearly a week and no doubt they will need to come back so it may all get in the way of going back :(
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard the folk lore about ash and oak so it will be interesting to see what happens.
ReplyDeleteWe have quite a few foreign game birds around here. As you say, ones that have escaped the gun. We had someone locally who used to breed game birds purely to release for hunters on his land. We often see French Partridge along with Quail, which are not a known species in our area. Then again, we all take pheasant for granted. And they are a non-native species too. I guess they've been around for long enough that people assume they are a native bird.
Is it particularly British rail posters you like? Or is it the style of art? Pembrokeshire Coast National Parks run an advertising campaign a few years ago with a similar style. I saw it on some large billboards. It was very attractive. Boldly bright and beautiful just like Timothy in his jumper and scarf. Glad you're managing to get back to church. Crawling do you call it? And that you enjoyed a meal out. Belated Happy Birthday wishes to E.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much. I checked out the weather folklore on the met office website and as I suspected not a lot of truth in it!
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a lot of fuss these days about the huge amount of pheasants raised and released as i think they can be damaging for native wildlife. They are very naive when first released and have, for example, no idea what a car is!
With the posters I think it is the style of art - always reminds me of those old Shell posters which I also like. The National Parks campaign sounds lovely.
Thank you re birthday wishes. It seems a long time since I last visited a new church - I need to try and visit more this year at least the more local ones!
Octopus tree looks very much like Ivy to me forming the octopus. Funny many years ago my son spotted a partridge wandering around were we worked. There used to be a few railways in Hereford, one I tracked the remains of went through Kington from Hereford.
ReplyDeleteBilly Blue Eyes - Thanks so much. There is certainly a disused railway track not far from us and there have been talks about turning it into a walking trail. We had a Red Legged Partridge in the garden once some years ago though.
ReplyDeleteThe tree looks fabulous. I love red legged partridges, we have had them in our garden and around our house. Always lovely to see.
ReplyDeleteCherryPie - Thank you. Must be lovely to have red legged partridges in garden and nearby. I have seen one at home and just the one at caravan. See them on local lanes though.
ReplyDelete