yesterday I walked to Bullfer Grove and was surprised and pleased to find the bluebells already in flower.

in the little quartered wood at the top of our road too, and the lane below Bullfer they are out …. last week it was the primroses …

a comma on the path beside the wood. I counted four orange tips on the lane in Sharrington, a spotted wood on our lane, and one in Bullfer grove, and a peacock in Bale.

glimpses of bluebells walking up beside the grove

a thrush singing intermittently

chiffchaff too

no scent, they are hardly open yet

but lots of colour

a blackcap warbling

new leaves

ferns with bright sprays unfurling

early purple orchids in their accustomed place

a view of yellow rape fields through the trees

how long before the beeches have their leaves on?

tall wild cherries in blossom all along the edge of the grove

then back to Bale, dodging holiday traffic across the A148, the Loke starred with celandines

while there are no leaves on the trees it is quite green underfoot

back in the village the ornamental cherries are supreme

lushy pink

and hello, is this a dye plant? if it is berberis darwiniensis then I may take a harvest later (with permission of course)

definitely a dye plant – quercus ilex

our beautiful spinney where once the pagan Bale Oak stood, sheltering flocks of sheep, herds of pigs, and a cobbler and his family …

though five trees have been severely pollarded and the rest are under suspended sentence, as the National Trust has insurance and  responsibility  issues; one bough broke off and left a huge dent in the road a few years ago.

between them the grass is spotted with violets, almost the same blue as the bluebells.