Winter Woodland Walk

It has been so wet for so long and some of the woodlands near me are looking particularly lush and mossy – elves and fairies peeping out from behind every tree and fern.

To give everyone in my daughter’s family a much needed break from the rigours of home learning, I have taken two of my grandchildren out for a ‘keep-your-distance-walk’ a few times.

Little Miss M and Master R love to draw and grasp every opportunity, so when they found some chalk on the ground ….

This is one of the cyber characters that inhabit Master R’s imagination

and then – throwing the chalk at the tree to make marks was a good game too – who could make the highest mark, how far away could they stand and still hit the tree?

(Yes I did knit the bobble hat 🙂 )

And something to melt any Granny’s heart – a card from Little Miss M

She had made one for both of her Grannies. Awww! ❤

You might remember that Little Miss M and I are walking 500 miles together – You can go to this link to see a wonderful walk we did in March 2019.

We did not add many miles to our total last year (I wonder why?!) but we are both determined to do more this year.

Our total to date is 133.5 miles, only 366.5 to go!

Have you been able to go out for any walks this week?

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Silent Sunday in Thorncombe Woods

Spring?

On Thursday, a brief break in the relentless rain saw me donning my wellies and making a dash for it – catching a walk in the sunshine before it disappeared again.

Gorse in the hedgerows is always a cheery sight.

I walked straight out across the fields and looked back towards my house across the very soggy land

But I am so lucky compared with the thousands of people who have had their lives disrupted by the floods.

Then, into the woods

I can’t quite explain the sheer joy of seeing sunshine slanting through the clumps of hazel, it made me feel like a woodland sprite skipping over sunbeams.

Look!

Bluebell shoots!

And the sky went all bluebell too

with catkins!

My whole being was soaking up all this light and joy, making up for months of grey, wind and wet.

Peeping through the trees at the fields looking so green in the sunshine

and of course the obligatory photos of lichen – I am so fascinated by this stuff – I am convinced it holds secrets and answers and healing properties as yet untapped

Moss is nearly as fascinating

but doesn’t hold the magic of lichen.

I do hope you have been able to catch some sunbeams in your neck of the woods.

Wordless Wednesday: Evening Walk

 

Glimpses from my walk yesterday evening.

Turn the sound right up to hear the birds and the bees.

500 miles with Granny

This Summer it’s all about finding shade

Last Saturday I took Master R and Little Miss M to Kingston Lacy, where there is a lot of shady woodland to explore

I just love their enthusiasm for finding leaves and bugs and beetles and the conversations they have about nature interwoven with fantasy, dragons, monsters and fairies.

And they way they burst into exuberance when faced with a long stretch of path to run – “Race you!”

Joyful days

The promise of ice cream

An iced coffee for Granny

Slow meanderings

And

Dappled light

Joining in with Cee’s Which Way Challenge

And Little Miss M and I clocked up another 2.5 miles towards our target of 500.

Other posts tracking our progress are  here, here.

and here

We have done 31.5 miles, only 468.5 miles to go! Can we do it!??!

It will be fun finding out!

I use Strava, an app on my iPhone, to record our distances. It is brilliant as we can see the map of our walks at the end of each one. The children have fun tracing our route and working out where we were.

Will you be going on any walks this weekend?

 

 

Cliffs and Bluebells

Continuing our bluebell walk in West Dorset …

we decided not to walk up to Thorncombe Beacon, but could see others enjoying the view

a perfect day for a paraglide

Click on any picture to see it larger.

We climbed the hill and over the stile

to see yet more spectacular views to the East towards Portland

and as we turned inland, Westerly views towards Devon

(Click on the link for other  good walking routes along the coast path.)

We took time to smell the blossom in the hedgerow, I think this is a wild plum

we must return in September to find out.

Through the gate, with a look over our shoulders at that glorious scene, saying farewell to the sea we continue

onward through more bluebell woods

to marvel at the way the light plays through the trees,

joining Cee’s Flower of the Day

and no matter how often I see it, my heart never fails to skip and dance when, standing in deep shade,  and spying a shaft of sunlight bathing a patch of bells in silver light

Magic all around us

A time to stop and breathe and notice how all the senses are tingling with pure joy, blessings counted, smiles exchanged between friends and for at least the hundredth time we say how lucky we are to live here……

 

Bluebell time

Last Sunday I met a couple of friends for a bluebell extravaganza of a walk!

The path took us through deep dark woods

Joining Cee’s Which Way Challenge

and lighter glades where the light was stunningly, beautifully, softly, frothily romantic

I took so many photographs, it has taken me all week to choose which ones to share( they certainly won’t all fit in one post).

We stopped at Down House Farm

and sat out in the garden

for a delicious lunch of Bubble and Squeak, eggs and bacon, all local produce and drank apple and ginger fruit punch

after that we headed out to the cliffs and wide open views towards Portland

 

Oh what a joyful day, the sun shone, the air was sweet, the sky was blue, our batteries were well and truly recharged …..

to be continued …………

 

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday: Walkies!

Gate

footpath flows along

hard to tear myself away

from this special place

~

This is my entry for our ‘One-a-Week’ Photo Challenge: GATE

and

Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge: FLOW and TEAR

and

Cee’s Which Way Challenge

~

The 10 minute walk down the valley from the treehouse that I was staying in, leads to the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, which you can see making its way towards Solva, going right past that Iron Age Hill Fort. The gate is to keep the grazing ponies in, this side of the gate.

 

More tales from the Treehouse:

To get to the public footpath from the Treehouse one needs to wiggle down through Elizabeth’s garden. The footpath runs from the National Trust car park near the road, straight down to the sea.

The treehouse can be seen from the path. More agile walkers have obviously chosen a quicker route by sliding down the bank.

Soon one enters the ancient unmanaged little piece of woodland

with the music of the stream beside you turning the walk into a dance

until you get to the ‘bridge’, which is tempting to cross, to follow in the fairies’ footsteps.

Hear the sound of the stream in this post……

Creatures pop out to say hello

and there are artful lichen arrangements on nearly every branch.

After passing the serenity of the old Millpond

you pass through a gate

and catch your first sight of the sea

Each time I walked that path, I stopped here and just noticed the change of atmosphere from an enclosed cosy woodland walk to this …….. the promise of that feeling of opening up, of expansion, that the next few steps will bring …… the moment of transition, I find there is power in that moment.

And then …. ooof!

Breathe deep, what a view.

The GATE in the very first photo lies just to the left, around the curve of the hill.

People used to live in this valley, you can still see the ruins of an old mill, and then further back in time, our ancestors, maybe even my ancestors, lived on the hill fort – what a place to live.

I had the valley more or less to myself for a whole month! what a feeling! I woke each morning with a smile on my face, not quite able to believe I had given myself this wonderful treat.

~

Next week’s Photo Prompt is

HAPPY

~

I’m really looking forward to your ‘GATE’ photos, please leave a link in the comments.

 

Light

Sunlight on branches                                                                                               Noticed by Little Miss M                                                                                         Looking up, not down

and another Haiku insists on joining in

Low winter sunlight                                                                                              Bouncing around high branches                                                                             Copper glowing rays

Week 3 of the 52 week photo challenge hosted by BlueDaisyz                                I’m enjoying this! – I know it is still only week 3, but so far …… a joy!                 And now I’m noticing a few other regular themes on other blogs: Five on Friday, Fashion Friday, Paint Party Friday hmmm something about Fridays …… …. ..  Ah! here’s a Tuesday challenge: Stick it Down Tuesday

The picture above, my ‘Light’ picture, was taken on a walk in the woods with my daughter and her 3 littlies. We were all looking down at tree stumps,  ferns and the signs of squirrel activity and we noticed Little Miss M, aged 2, sitting astride a log, looking up transfixed, smiling at the sunlight on the branches and the patterns against the sky. Choosing this picture for the 52 week challenge, has made me think …..

What about: Walk on Wednesday, Wednesday Walks, Wandering Wednesday, A Wednesday Walk, We walk on Wednesday – what to name it?

I’ve gone for Wednesday Walks, but please let me know if you think of another better, more inviting title. I will post walks from the past and present – no rules. And it might give me that extra little push I need some days to get out there for a walk, after cosy hours with the crochet hook.

It would be great if you would like to join me in posting pictures of your favourite walks and we can link up in blogland.                                                                           I’d love to hear what you think of the idea. . . . .