Fly Tipping

We are lucky to have a lot of pretty country lanes and bridlepaths around us. They are enjoyed by many walkers, runners, cyclists and horseriders. They are also a vital link for farmers to reach their fields.
An increasing problem on many of these lanes is fly tipping

It is becoming a regular occurence to find sights like this on our beautiful lanes. General opinion seems to be that the problem is exacebated by the strict rules at local council sights not allowing any commercial vehicles to tip. The council then have to spend money eventually sending out a lorry to remove all this debris. Not that that gives anyone the excuse to treat our countryside like this.

There has even been flytipping in the middle of some of the small roads causing cars to have to reverse back out of the lanes.
Please think carefully who you ask to take your rubbish away!

Garden Pics

Today I  visited mum and dad again  mainly to say goodbye to Julie before she returns to the USA.

The next time I see Julie will be when Emma and I visit her in the summer. We have our guidebooks at the ready......

 I took the opportunity later in the afternoon to walk around mum's lovely garden and take a few pictures. The apple blossom is at it's best.

     The rest of the garden is full of various shades of green and blue.

Remains of Easter

The Easter Cakes (or Easter biscuits as Emma insisted on calling them when she had given up cakes for Lent!) are almost all gone.

The new bottle of Oil of Cassia is ready in the cupboard for next year.

The Easter Eggs are nearly all gone. One stack has disappeared quicker than the other!

That's apparently because she has shared more!

Into the woods

After Sunday lunch I decided to go down  between showers to the woods to see how the bluebells were coming on. The wild garlic which dominates the top part of the wood was barely out.

I am always amused by this tree which looks like a dinosaur or an extra from Lord of the Rings

The bluebells in the lighter part of the wood are further on

Monty was obliged to have his compulsory photo

He was not very patient and was even less cooperative when I stopped to attempt some close ups

Evening Water

I stopped on the return from visiting mum and dad to see the evening light on the lake.

A lovely peaceful time when all the visitors had left.

I then drove home via the ford in the adjoining village

The water level is low at the moment and it is hard to believe what a raging force this river can be in wet weather.

Walking

My walking group "Walk and Talk" meet once a month. Today we met at Frampton On Severn which is reputed to have the longest village green. It is indeed very long with several ponds along it. A swan was  patiently sitting on her carefully made nest.

There was an alternative bird in one of the beautiful gardens.

At the end of the green there is a Lych gate that leads through an avenue of Horse Chestnuts to the church several hundred yards on.

This blossom was growing in the churchyard.

We have been unlucky with heavy rain on our last 3 walks. Today was no exception with the rain getting steadily worse as we walked around the lake.

 The geese and their goslings were less effected by the rain than we were.

Blossom

The cherry blossom is in full bloom at the moment and looks fabulous 

All the blossom has done well so far including the Victoria Plum

The Greengage 

And the cherry

The apple blossoms are only just coming out

Let's hope for some good fruit this year!

Lambs

The marmalade was tested at breakfast. It has a good flavour but I fear there maybe some complaints about the large lumps.

Elder daughter went to work the day on another farm today. Her dog Sky spent a lot of the day at the end of the garden waiting patiently for her return.

Lambing is now nearly at an end for this year and most of the sheep are now out in the fields.

There are a few stragglers plus the pet lambs left in the shed.

The pet lambs have their "shepherdess" as their replacement mum.

However today we had two new "recruits" who had been brought back from the field where their mum had died. They have needed a little encouragement to accept their new source of milk.

Marmalade

Younger daughter went back to school today so I set to making marmalade. I had some grapefruit I had been given so chose a Three Fruit Marmalade 

Having had complaints from my dad last time that there were too many large chunks I took care to cut the peel finer.

Let's hope he doesn't find them too long!

Making marmalade always takes longer than I expect

I was however pleased with the final result. It is not as dark as it looks!

I was also pleased to see the return of one of our cats Tiggy. He had not been seen for about 5 days but was today happily asleep in the conservatory.

He frequently disappears for days on end. We have not been able to work out whether he goes hunting or is a "Six Dinner Sid" with a second home!