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It's spring! Ladybirds are so rubbish at hiding.

Grace.

 I've been weaving baskets all week which is why I've been quite quiet on the blog front, sorry I've not been commenting much.  I have been trying to keep up with everybody though :)  I have also managed to get a suntan!  It's March, is that normal!!!???  :)

Hawthorn

Yesterday I went exploring and found a secret place that was just, utterly, amazing.  Today I went back with my camera!   The Hawthorn leaf buds have well and truly burst all along this hedgerow.  I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see a Hawthorn waking up.  I have a real affinity with little Hawthorns.  :)

Above is the entrance to a magical wood full of life and abundance, wild flowers , badgers and hares, mossy glades, gnarly beech and oak trees, beetles and bumbles bee's looking for houses.

Surrounding the wood is bare earth.  Bare earth is not natural in such large areas.  Hectares and hectares of soil being damaged by the elements.  Billions of organisms being killed by the blazing sun and the freezing wind blowing away the resultant dust.  Organisms that should be thriving, making the earth the perfect environment for plant growth.  Plants to feed our bellies and make us strong.  

Soil should always be kept covered and the life within nurtured, protected.  Always.


Ground Ivy in flower

When you enter the magical wood you understand the difference between earth that's bare and earth that's carpeted.  You step from a lifeless, energy sapping piece of ground to vibrancy and life!  The only bare earth in here are the tracks made by animals and the holes snurfled by badgers and foxes.  Just as it should be.

Violets 

Yesterday when I entered these woods I was like a child!  Joy, pure joy!  I just couldn't believe how much green there was.  The woodland floor was carpeted with the promise of bluebells, dotted with huge patches of purple violets, dogs mercury, campion, ramsons and then I stumbled upon Town Hall Clock!  (Also called Moschatel).  

Moschatel growing on a mossy tree stump.

It's a tiny little flower and is called Town Hall Clock because, if you look closely - and you have to get down on your knees, bum in the air to see them - you'll notice that it has a flower on the top and four flowers around the stem just underneath the top flower, making a sort of cube.  But actually resembling the old clock towers, with their four clock faces.  ahem... sort of... reminiscent anyway!

Moschatel - Town Hall Clock

So when your walking about in the woods in springtime and you come across a bit that's on the damp side, look down and if you see this...

A Hens eye view of a patch of Moschatel

...get down on your knees, bum in the air and see if it's Moschatel.  It has a subtle scent too if you're lucky!

Obligatory collie shot of Willow in the woods

The woods extended into an ash coppice, which again, was just a sea of green.   With every fraction of space exploding with plants vying to make the most of the sunshine before the trees get their leaves and cast them all in shade.


A Ladybird not being inconspicuous.

She clearly thought that if she couldn't see me I couldn't see her.  



This is a bracket funghi that was growing in abundance on a fallen sycamore tree.  Can anyone identify it?




The perfect end to a perfect adventure.  

I pray for everyone to have a wonderful spring.  Get out there, stick your nose in it and have a rummage, it'll be gone before you know it.

hen
xx

p.s.  I've counted that I've had 29 springs that I've been aware of and if I'm lucky I'll have 29 more, at least.  That means I only have about 29 more times to see all of this!  That's not many.  Best make the most of them then.    :)


Visit the World - That's my World!

14 comments:

  1. That's very inspiring Hen. Lifting the bum into the air sounds like good advice to me. And I agree with how you see the exposed soil.

    Twentynine more Cycles. Is this a prophecy? What have you seen for your self and the earth?

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  2. As usual, you captured the essence of spring in your area well with the photos. Its fun to see your different spring time plants, things I have never gotten to see before.

    I love how many of the first spring flowers do require you to take a moment and get down close and intimate with the earth around you. You have to pay attention to your surroundings.

    It does look like a very magical place to visit. I am glad you got to enjoy it two days in a row!

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  3. What a beautiful little journey you've taken us on, and such beautiful photographs.

    We live on such a bountiful and amazing planet that provides us with everything imaginable. And, Spring is a time to witness such miracles. It's true what you wrote about having such a limited amount of seasons to enjoy. When you look at it that way, it's mind boggling.

    By the way, with so much time spent "getting down on your knees, with your bum in the air," how did you ever manage to get a suntan? :D

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  4. How lush and verdant everything looks in your evocative photos. Here the grass is still yellow from months spent under the snow and there isn't a bud on any bush or tree.

    Your ladybirds look very like our ladybugs? Anyway their both ladies.

    29 + 29 = 58. Why that's barely reaching adulthood Hen. Lets hoping you last a bit longer, blogging all the way.

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  5. I never said where my tan was! ;)

    :)

    Bernie, I'm not sure it's a prophecy as such, just poor maths :) I've had to sit a lot recently and consider how I feel about the Earth and it's future. As it gets me very down and I struggle to do the right thing. To be honest I'm flummoxed. I'm flummoxed by human nature and it's effect on our home. So I've decided it's only right and proper to make the best out of what we have now (my current mental strength allowing) and make the best out of my mind. There's nothing else I can do. It's the path of least resistance and it feels very powerful.

    Stacey - (((thank you))) I'm glad too!

    EPTS - It really is a time to grateful for what we have. I fear though that, as a species, we are a little like spoiled children. We never consider what effort has gone in to what is given, we never think it's ever going to change and we certainly aren't grateful for what we are given!

    Barrie - Can't wait to share your spring with you! I never knew ladybirds were called ladybugs where you're from! It's bound to be the same bug. :)

    I've no doubt I'll be trans-galactic hover blogging when I'm ninety!

    Thank you so much for your comments. I'm really going to have to go to bed now though as it's 3am and I have a roast dinner to cook for my mum tomorrow! Yawn!!!

    night

    hen
    xx

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  6. Oh good, you are going to be VERY useful tomorrow, you can be official plant monitor. I think you have a much wider variety of things in your bit then we do over here, but maybe you can forage them out. :)

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  7. Beautiful pictures of beautiful things in a beautiful place!

    Thanks for sharing x

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  8. Lovely pictures. I've been watching Darwin programs - why, I wonder, have ladybirds stayed that colour?!

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  9. This is a wonderful portrait of spring, so beautiful and I feel as though you have given me a glimpse of my soon to be future. But for today, 6 fresh inches of snow! The first photo of the tree made my heart sing!

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  10. hello Karen, nice to meet you! :)

    Hi Tim, nice to meet you as well! That was exactly my thought when I spotted her!

    Hello Tammie Lee, nice to meet you as well, as well!! :) That's one special tree. I've just been visiting it again this evening. Beautiful!

    hen
    xxx

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  11. Your spring is so much earlier than ours up here, I noticed the same thing in Suffolk last weekend. Lasy year I saw ladybirds in February but so far this year I haven't seena single one.
    The photograph of the sun going down is just beautiful.

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  12. lovely pix, thank you...wonderful to take a virtual walk through a green and magical spring while sitting on a sofa in dry and dusty Oz!

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  13. beutiful photo!
    congratulations!

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  14. Beautiful pictures! And even better blog!!

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