Thursday 11 July 2019

The Lane and Meadow in July

A picture-heavy post from a sunny day last week.

Green is the word that first comes to mind when standing on the road looking up the lane. Shades of green all the way up the lane.

 The bramble/blackberry flowers are late appearing in the shady part of the lane

 Here is the land on the ditch side of the lane opposite next-door-but-one, all levelled and cleared. I wonder what will appear and grow. The old pump base in the foreground.

 This is where next-door neighbour has planted all sorts of native plants on the ditch side opposite their house

 There will be Elderberries but who will get them first....me or the pigeons?


 I think this rough prickly thing below is Bristley Oxtongue. Not something to grab and pull up by hand. It's popped up en-masse where the caravan was stood until last December.

 Among the hogweed, cow-parsley, grasses and other weeds wild growth on my meadow I spotted just a few Yarrow. These were so common on the grass verges near the smallholding and noticeable too in the dry coastal area because they are very drought resistant.........staying green when everything else turns brown.
I was watching the coverage of the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show where they were talking to someone breeding the garden version of Yarrow - Achillia - so many colours in the garden version. I had one pink plant in the quarter circle flower garden but this year it has vanished - too many Aquilegia I think.

 This is the Ash down the bottom of the meadow that I thought looked very sad - almost dead - earlier in the year. Now looking much better although rather sparse in places.


Some of the new trees in Colin's Birthday wood are looking sad but there is new growth on this Pine


 Looking North from the meadow, through the poplar trees onto the neighbouring farmland.


At the end of the meadow the footpath carries on across the field - Wheat this year. The farmer has sprayed the pathway earlier in the year - not all farmers are helpful with keeping the footpaths clear across their land, even though it's something they are supposed to do. Look how dry the soil is - like concrete.



  And from the same spot, turning round and looking back onto my meadow. I like to keep the grass path short............it's easy with the ride-on mower..........so people can see exactly where the footpath is.



 I then spent half an hour trying to get a photo of the dozens of brown butterflies on the meadow..........they wouldn't cooperate,  facing the wrong way or moving just as I focused or not waiting for me to focus!













 and not opening their wings when I asked them to............




Although I got enough of a photo to work out they are Ringlets.




Photo from website of Ringlet  underwing
















Later I saw a Meadow brown and managed to just about get a photo of it on the house wall, it has a torn wing.
Photo from website of Meadow Brown Underwing

























I've noticed a Red Admiral and Large Whites in the garden but I couldn't get near them at all.

Thanks for comments yesterday - I'm still doing as little as possible.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

16 comments:

  1. You live in such a lovely part of the country, thanks for sharing the photos.
    I was wondering how you were feeling - I'm glad you are taking things easy and not doing too much.
    xx

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  2. Sorry to hear you are a bit under the weather but lots of lovely photos - I used to keep my caravan at church farm Kettlebrugh and spent some 30 years holidaying at the campsite in the Rendlesham forest so as you can guess it is my favourite part of the country.

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  3. So much beautiful greenery.....l love green. I always remember hearing this “Green must of been God’s favourite colour because He made so much and in such different shades.’ Yours pics certainly show that. Lovely photos.

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  4. Hope you are having a better day Sue, my hay fever is terrible this last couple if days I just ride it out at least know what it is.
    I agree with Mazda Green is the best colour so many different shades. I enjoyed the walk round your lane and to see the butterflies.
    Hazel c uk

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    Replies
    1. Sorry you are suffering hayfever, I haven't needed meds for 5 years now, I just take a Tablespoon or so of local Honey, the closer the hives are the better, ask around and someone will know a local beekeeper...Good luck.

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  5. Lovely photos. The footpath through the field looks exactly like one we took on our weeklong walk through the Cotswolds in 2014.
    Strange comment above you may want to delete.

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    1. Yes I’ve noticed that there have been a few weird posts for the past few days.....wonder if they can be blocked.....I don’t know a lot about blocking on blogs.....

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    2. I delete as soon as I see them without mentioning anything about them.

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  6. Thank you for showing us some of the green, verdant, and shady loveliness around where you live. . . so different from here! I love it all. I hope the rest of your week and weekend will be pleasant and that you are feeling more upbeat again.

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  7. How lovely to be able to walk out there right from your front door. Thank you for sharing it. Hope you have a good weekend.

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  8. It all looks so lush and green, I would be very contented to live in such a beautiful area.

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  9. It all looks very calming.
    Arilx

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  10. Thank you for all the beautiful pics, looking at greenery is very good for your mood and mental health, I love to spend time on my new deck enjoying my garden views.Even in the middle of Winter our days are mostly sunny.

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  11. I've also heard of people taking a teaspoon a day of local honey for hayfever with excellent results. Worth a try! When I was teaching art, I always told my students to notice all the different greens there are when they walked down the road. And a favorite project was to see how many colors of green we could mix with just blue, yellow, black and white paint.

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  12. Beautiful shades of green!! I need to ask if your cow parsley, causes burns like the one that has been popping up here in Canada?

    God bless.

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  13. Interesting post, I didn't know farmers there had to maintain footpaths across their property, interesting! No such exists here that I know of, you just have to stick to the sides of the roads.

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