20 May 2014

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
















Wasn't the weekend glorious?

I absolutely LOVE this time of year.

Two things are guaranteed to get me and my lazy bottom out of a sun lounger when the weather is so stonkingly gorgeous - an invitation to a barbecue (Saturday) and a long leisurely walk (Sunday).

D's mum lives in a little village not far from here, called Thorpe Langton.  It's chocolate box pretty.  There's a track just off the Main Street, beyond the pub, that leads the walker between several cottages, past a farm, across a little ford and out into open fields.

It was just the three of us and Bertie on Sunday morning -  me, D and his mum.

I am definitely a townie through and through.  I need to be where people are.  I've tried country-living.  Hated it.  Too quiet, too lonely, too dark at night and too many huuuuuge spiders.

I do love a walk though.  Particularly at this time of year when the English countryside is at its heart-stoppingly beautiful best.

D's mum always laughs at me carefully picking my way over dodgy terrain in flip flops and jingly-jangly jewellery while she and D stride confidently ahead with their shapely calves and sturdy boots.

I don't mind.  I'm more than happy to drop back and enjoy it alone.  Just me and my camera.  I wish I was a bit more knowledgeable about wildflowers though.  There's always the internet of course, but I'd like to buy myself a little book to keep handy.  (If you have a spare minute, type 'wild flowers' into Google images - I literally squealed with delight at the colours that filled my screen.)

Are the little white flowers in the top left of my collage above, hawthorn?  They have a very strong peppery smell which takes me straight back to the summers of my childhood.

***

Eek!  I think it's just started to rain so I must dash and bring the washing in.  It's fast approaching school pick-up time and Bertie is lying at my feet making the most foul smell which is beginning to make me feel a bit sick!

I do hope you all had an equally lovely weekend.

xxx

21 comments:

  1. Naughty Bertie - too much barbecue in the weekend ? ;-)))
    Lovely surroundings - the english countryside is by far the most beautiful in the world... (If the sun shines...) - I'm jealous !

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    1. Haha! We had a thunderstorm here this morning, Ingrid, which frightens Bertie to death. I think his tum is churned up with emotion! Even he looks quite disgusted! x

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  2. Wonderful countryside photos Heather, and it sounds like you've had the perfect weekend to accompany the perfect weather.
    I lived in London (during my twenties, working and studying), towns, villages and country lanes, and, as I always knew, I'm definitely a country girl!
    Enjoy the week whatever the weather!
    Gill xx

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  3. That looks a lovely walk. The countryside is just gorgeous at the moment (if I ignore the rain clouds that is!). I'm afraid I'm more of a country girl - I love the space and peace and quiet. I think I'm quite unsociable actually - in a nice way! x

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  4. Gorgeous photo's..... isn't it just the best thing in the world the smell of washing that's been hung on the line....and of course you don't have to iron quite so much (I hope my mother inlaw doesn't read that!!) It is just the most wonderful time of year! Have a lovely week. S xo

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  5. It is indeed the MOST wonderful time of year! Your pictures are beautiful and you don't need to know the names of the flowers to appreciate their beauty and take such great photos. xx

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  6. You celebrated the beautiful weekend in the most perfect way! I love having the little wildflower and bird guides to hand, the books are so much easier than trying to match stuff online. I love living in a village, close to a bigger town but also close to absolute countryside. Best of both worlds! Have a wonderful week! Chrissie xxx

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  7. You look liked you had a heavenly weekend! Yummm must get the barbeque out at the next sunny patch!!! I love to know the names and stories behind the names of flowers. Hope the next weekend is as beautiful emma

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  8. Beautifl pictures. Wow. I miss the English countryside. I hope you get more sunshine. What a perfect place. xx

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  9. I have such a lovely picture of you in my head tip toeing along daintily ! Such beautiful photo's.
    Have a great day,
    Kate x

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  10. It was glorious wasn't it? We had to indulge in barbecues too, who knows when the chance will come again? And I know what you mean about the wild flowers, I brought a nature spotter book for DD for this very reason, I said it was for her to learn about nature but really I wanted to use it too!

    S x

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  11. It was a gorgeous weekend, wasn't it just? Perfect for garden lounging.....England is absolutely beautiful at this time of the year.... The weather was perfect: not super hot, not cold, just still and light...
    Whilst sometimes I look at "country homes magazines" and the like and think that it would be lovely and romantic to live in the country and cook in an AGA and have loads of space around me......, I feel that in reality I would find it a bit isolating as well. We are lucky to live in a very green London suburb and in an area within it that is very villagey.... people say hello in the street, you always bump into somebody you know, the grocer and butcher know you, it's family oriented, with nice parks...we have shops and cafes around the corner and a few good friends very close so I feel I get the best of both worlds as I can also get in the tube and be in the husle and bustle of London in 25 mins.
    Life always seems better with a bit of sun, doesn't it? Let's hope the bank holiday weekend is equally lovely for all. Pati xx

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  12. Absolutely stunning photos, glad you had a good weekend xx

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  13. Beautiful photos H. The weather was sure gorgeous. I'm like you, walking daintily whilst other family members are gun ho. A few years ago we were in St Ives and the family wanted to do a 6 mile walk from Zenna back to St Ives. I was reluctant to go but got talked into it. I had no walking footwear so had to buy a pair of trainers (but stuck my flip flops in my back pack). It was sunny so I had on a pair of white linen trousers and a light top. Within 2 minutes I had blisters and had to swap to flip flops. We walked through manure infested fields and really high wheat fields. Half way through it grew cloudy and poured with rain. My flip flops were sticking into the wet mud and we kept passing hardened hill walkers with all their walking clobber on. They must have taken one look at me and though 'city idiot'! I was covered in mud and soaking wet by the time we got back to the cottage. Never again. I remind everyone of this when they suggest long walks again.

    That plate of food looks rather scrummy.....it's making me rather hungry!

    xxxxxxxxxxxx

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  14. Gorgeous photos, looks like a fab way to spend a weekend xx

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  15. LOL! That vision of you tiptoeing in your flip flops made me giggle. I live in a town that is surrounded by countryside so I grew up galloping through fields of barley, potatoes and goodness only knows what. My friend however grew up near Belfast with not so much country around her. She HATES long grass and I almost purposely trek her through it just to hear her squeals of "eww" "yuck" Aaagh" LOL I am such a good friend! Haha!!

    In answer to your question, yes, that is Hawthorn. It's particularly beautiful at the moment, my drive to work feels wall to wall hawthorn.

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  16. It really is the MoSt wonderful time of the year, and your pictures have captured that so perfectly. I love your countryside photos, and it was an amazingly sunny weekend wasn't it? Looks like you had a really lovely time :) I am off to google wildflowers now...thanks for sharing!
    Happy weekend wishes for this weekend too :)
    Helen xox

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  17. Gorgeous, gorgeous photos - you captured that wonderful weekend so well. After a week of rain it was tonic to look at those pictures and remember that the sun does shine in the UK, sometimes... x

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  18. Great post,lovely pictures .You are so like me,although the last couple of years I have given in to walking boots.Always wear my jewellery though and wouldn't go out without makeup,you never know who you're going to bump into.
    It is indeed Hawthorne,the little white flower on the Hawthorne is referred to as the May flower,hence the saying ne'er cast a clout till may is out.Just thought you would like to know that LOL.Lots of folk think it is the month of May but no it is indeed the Hawthorne flower.xx

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  19. Beautiful pictures. Love everything about them. For a moment I thought I was on Swedish grounds, until The Bakers Arms showed up... Enjoy this time of the year. It is so short. And beautiful. And has so many blissful things to offer.
    PS Maybe you don't hate purple... Maybe that was someone else... I mean you are wearing a skirt in pink and purple, which is gorgeous by the way... :)

    Xxx
    Annette
    My Rose Valley

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Anyone ever told you that you're a peach? xx

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