Bluebell Heaven...

My annual bluebell walk usually coincides with a plant fair at held on the Ashridge Estate but last year they seemed to have peaked early. This year's fair isn't for another 4 weeks but I'd heard on the grapevine that the bluebells were out already and so I decided to head off out to see for myself.






I wasn't disappointed. It is a magical sight and one that I wanted to share with my sisters for the first time.





They are out four weeks earlier than just three years ago - the beech isn't in leaf at all.






Always one of my favourite days out and this one was no exception, filled with laughter and the most English of flowers.

Blossom snow...

No chance of cherries for me again this year. While there is one parakeet on the feeder ...

... his friends are all waiting in the cherry tree.

Slowly eating all the tiny fruit that are at the base of the blossom, which they destructively toss aside to carpet this corner of the garden in blossom snow. Each flower perfect, not a sign of dying off naturally before being discarded.

(The pigeons are too fat to get to the feeders so they waddle about below hoping for some stray seed to fall.)

The other garden birds are getting in on the act too!

I can understand why there has been talk of culling these exotic visitors as they are a destructive force and it must be a nightmare if you were commercially growing fruit.

And talking of parrots, these ones are in full bloom today.

The Great Outdoors...

The tent has had its first outing and I couldn't have hoped for a better weekend considering it is late September.  First stop, Roundhill camp site in the New Forest.

The local animals were completely comfortable with sharing their space with us and Pippin was quite fascinated.

Seeing the ponies roll about joyfully, you just couldn't help but smile.  Seeing them galloping in line, wild and free, made me cry.  I'm daft like that.

For supper, it was a red pepper and chorizo stew with home-baked bread and some regional cheese.  Hearty and warm and very do-able in one pot on the stove.

Waking up to the perfect sunrise, the grass heavy with dew and a quiet that I am quite unused to in London.

Driving just a few miles and finding rivers that remind me of my childhood.  I am too used to seeing just the Thames.

Watching these cygnets gliding up the river after deciding it may be a better option while there is a chocolate brown snout nosing about around their nest.

Coming back and lighting the bucket bbq for a bit of extra warmth and to make hot dogs for supper.

Which were eaten by the light of the lanterns.  Then, tumbler of wine in hand, sitting back to be stunned by the stars.  The sky was full and the constellations were so much more visible than I am used to at home.


I have a wanderlust.  I am making plans to escape London.  I want it all now but know that I am going to need to exercise more patience.  I will get outdoors more in the meantime...

Taster day...

For the last year, my Mum has been doing a watercolour class each week and I have been so impressed with what she has been producing.  In the course of conversation, it came up that I had been to art college (many, many moons ago) and so her tutor kindly asked if I would like to join them on their annual outdoor workshop with a view to joining the class in September.

This morning I packed up my tin of sketching pencils, found a new sketch book and set off to a nature reserve that I didn't even know existed just a couple of miles from home.

Everyone looked very confident and excited to be given such a large space to explore and choosing the subject was, I think, the hardest part of the day.  I have never had any tuition in watercolours, although I used to love using them for illustrative purposes and so I chose the safe route of finding a thistle head to sketch.  As long as there is something (usually nature-related) in front of me, I am fairly confident of my sketching skills and so putting the first marks on my paper wasn't too daunting.

Soon, though, the lure of adding colour became too much and I crept over to where Mum was drawing and decided to give it a go.  Having raided her art box, and with some encouragement from the teacher, I started out sketching the view in front of me with a drawing pen.

I couldn't wait to add some colour.

The day flew by and my sketchbook now has something in it!  I think it's ok for a first attempt but I am definitely going to join the group in September and learn a new skill.  The less is more concept of watercolour is something that I am going to find challenging, but I am also hoping to be able to develop my own style of painting, especially combined with the ink.

I also had the chance to walk around the reserve and was delighted to find a tiny little pond where dragonflies were emerging from their nymph  stage.  I don't know if you can just about spot the dragonfly in this photo, drying out its wings.  It is just above that brown leaf in the middle of the picture.  I wish I'd taken my other lens'.  There are a couple of other nymphs hanging off the leaves.

I then found an empty nymph moult.  The child in me still loves this kind of discovery.

Back to the kitchen tomorrow and Saturday for the rest of the christening preparations.  Keep your fingers crossed for a fine day, I really can't face the house full of people.  I'm expecting about 48 and am hoping to keep them all entertained in the garden.

I'll leave you with a quick photo of one of the red admiral butterflies that were in abundance today.  I love butterflies too...