bees on the bush

the bees love cotoneaster so much that the whole bush seems to be buzzing when the small but obviously very sweet blossoms appear. Given all the bad news about bees it is reassuring to see so many of so many types.

pignut

the delicate frond like leaves, and the small white flowers of pignut, a relative of the carrot. The tubers are edible, and pigs were once trained to find them. They are also eaten by leprechauns.

woodland path

the bluebells are at their peak now, and the woods and hedgerows are a blaze of blue. I have always believed that bluebells grow better in dappled light, but they appear to favour the sunny side of lanes (middle picture) and there are great patches of bluebells out in the open on the coast (the blue patch on the left in the lowest photo)

bastard balm

a rarity that is quite common locally especially in the woods. This clump grows here every year (see earlier pages), surrounded by stitchwort, bluebells and vetch.

kidney vetch

the amazing shades of natural colour of kidney vetch within a few square yards of each other in the cliff top meadows on yesterday's walk. I am not impressed by the supposed similarity of the flower heads to kidneys but it was enough to justify using the plant to treat a range of kidney diseases. It is also one of those plants with lots of local names eg butterfingers, lamb's foot and ladies finger.

Harriet and Spot at Backways cove

HRH does a bit of posing while Spot goes fishing. Spot put his head completely under the water (as does his bro Vasco aka Tigger) several times as if he was hunting for something. It is not obvious what he is up to.