We planted four of these trees when we moved in 11 years ago, and the blossom is spectacular every year. To be fair it only lasts a week or so, and makes an unholy mess when the blossom drops, but it’s well worth it for those few days…
…well, actually yellow, but you get the point. The warmer than usual weather over the last week has brought things on massively, especially the mustard seed crop, which now dominates arable crops around here. A veritable sea of yellow…
Our 10 year old granddaughter wanted ‘an adventure’ today, so as it was fine we decided to climb The Wrekin. This 1335ft hill is the highest point around here, and although there is a clear and reasonably well maintained path, it’s still a fair climb – around 1.5 miles in distance, but almost 1000ft in elevation. Views from the top are amazing…
Although much of the land around here is given over to agriculture (mainly dairy cattle), we are fortunate to have a reasonable amount of ‘open access’ land close by. It’s mostly mixed woodland and an excellent place for quiet reflection. This is Maer Hills, just a 10 min drive from home. 
I drive past this patch of woodland quite often, but rarely stop and explore. Today I had a few minutes to kill, so wandered through. Spring hasn’t really had any impact as yet, very few leaves on the trees, and the woodland floor is mostly dead leaves and ferns. Another couple of months and it’ll all change. 
I last took a photo from this spot around 20 years ago (it was a colour slide using my old medium format camera). Nothing much has changed, except it was autumn then and there were still leaves on the trees. I remember being so frustrated when I got the processed film back and realised there was an old tin can in the photo I hadn’t spotted. Nowadays it could be cloned out in seconds, but it ruined the photo back then!
… is the one you have with you. So true! Came downstairs just before 7am today, and saw the makings of a great sky. Knowing it would likely only last a few minutes at most, I pulled some shoes and a coat on, and grabbed my phone and wide angle converter lens, and took the 2 minute walk across the fields. This is what I saw… If I had stopped to get my ‘real’ camera and tripod etc, I would certainly have missed it – it only lasted a few seconds longer as the sun rose and washed out the colours.
All good things have to come to an end, so it was goodbye this morning to the palm trees, sunshine, pools and sun loungers. Not really the end though – I figure it won’t be too long before we are back!
… came the sunshine. This morning’s short, sharp fall of snow caught everyone out around here – it looked like we had missed the snow that blanketed most of the UK yesterday, but it was not to be. Anyway, it didn’t last long; the sun came out and by midday it was mostly gone. Whether we get more remains to be seen…
After the really miserable weather yesterday, today has been beautiful and sunny (but cold), culminating in this colourful sunset… However, the forecast is not promising – sleet and snow are expected over the next two days, and with travel disruption expected, my plans for the rest of the week look to be in jeopardy.
One Day At A Time... 