We weren’t very adventurous this spring, staying close to home and taking things easy, so there wasn’t too much to blog about.
A visit to St Michael’s church on the first mild spring day in March
We admired the ‘Narnia’ lamp post by the gate.
We were unable to tell the time as the sun failed to shine.
The peaceful churchyard.
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris ) The flowers are in the centre of the bloom and have no petals. The 5 – 8 petal-like sepals are bright shiny yellow.
Peacock butterfly (Inachis io) It was very sluggish and was still in the grass outside the church when we came out again.
A pair of Greylags (Anser anser) took up residence in our garden as they usually do each spring
We enjoy their company.
They constructed a nest on the island in the middle of the big pond but after ten days it was abandoned. Feathers were spread everywhere. We don’t know what happened but we suspect an otter or an American mink was to blame.
The abandoned nest.
After we lost our summerhouse in the storm earlier this year we spent some time clearing the area behind it and discovered this tree with the deformed trunk. What could have caused this?
We enjoy seeing all the birds that visit our garden including the Pied Wagtails (Motacilla alba). Not a good shot as the bird hurried into the dappled shade just as I took its picture.
A sunset seen from the back of the house.
On a visit to our church at Rumburgh we saw this Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) resting in the shade of a gravestone.
Primroses (Primula vulgaris) in the churchyard
I love the informality of our country churchyards and I like to see the wild flowers there. The wild flowers are just as much God’s work as any garden flower or exotic bloom. They have a haven in our churchyards and should be safe from herbicides.
Barren Strawberry (Potentilla sterilis)
Richard on his way to church
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Meanwhile, back in my garden…..
My Pieris with its new leaves of red and its little white bell flowers
I have been growing these hyacinth bulblets on in shallow tubs and they are now ready for planting out in the garden to flower next spring.
Scented narcissi and pink aubretia
Elinor gave me some more aubretia, a mauve variety, as a gift on Mothering Sunday
Lathyrus and scilla
Pasque flowers. These began flowering just a couple of days after Easter Sunday.
I had a large patch of these red saxifrage but the deer scraped most of them up. I’m hoping they will spread again.
Lovely post, Clare; peaceful and, somehow, reassuring after recent events. Could a stone or some other object have blocked that tree’s growth, or is it a malformed trunk? Loved the sound of The Pierces – must say, I had never heard of them before.
Thank-you, Mike. It could very well have been something like a stone. I will have to go and have another look at the tree. I’m glad you like The Pierces. They have a folky, 60’s sound, I think.
What do you mean, nothing to blog about? As ever, your post celebrates the natural world. The new growth, the sunsets are all worth recording, as you do so well.
Oh Clare, I love your blog. It’s like a peaceful potter down a country lane and then a wonderful catch-up over coffee…with cake. Much love flowing to you with hugs and more hugs for a lovely week. xX ❤ Xx ❤
Beautiful photos and I’m glad you’re having a beautiful, peaceful Spring with so many flowers blooming. I love the one of the duck soaking up the shade. He must be happy when the sun isn’t shining. I love Narnia too so that lamp post made me feel nostalgic for it. I’ve got to go back there again someday. 🙂
Your spring may have been quiet but it is very beautiful. It was a great pity about your geese and having deer about must be a nightmare for you as a gardener.
I’d think, if they didn’t want you to stand around gazing, they shouldn’t have put up a sundial to gaze at.
Any one or combination of several things might have caused the tree to deform. Stress, injury, virus or fungus can all contribute. The truth is science doesn’t really know.
That was a glorious sunset!
Nice shot of the butterfly! I’ve seen a couple but they wouldn’t hold still.
Thank-you Allen. The tree seems quite healthy and has grown well despite the strange trunk. The butterfly was very sleepy and had recently come out of hibernation. I have tried to get shots of butterflies recently but I can’t keep up with most of them!
As I scrolled down to the lamp post my first thought was “Ha, Narnia!” I also liked the advice on the sundial, though all the photos were lovely, apart from the abandoned nest. I blame mink – surely otters are just too nice to do that. 🙂
Thank-you very much, Simon. Life has been just a little too busy for writing posts and almost too busy to keep up with my friends recently. I also would like to think that otters were too nice to ransack the nest but…
Thank-you Kerry! We are very fortunate to be able to live in such a lovely part of the country especially with all the terrible news from elsewhere. We are off to visit relatives in Manchester next week with a new baby boy to admire.
Beautiful pictures! ❤ I wish I lived in such a beautiful place! There is something oddly pleasant and peaceful about walking through a churchyard, I don't often walk through any but where I live (a very built up town) they church yards and graveyards are the places where you find so much nature among all the concrete here. Parks are often full of people here so less of a chance of seeing wildlife and wild plants.
I'm fascinated by that tree trunk too, it would take something very strong to make a dent in that tree. Usually it's trees that break up concrete and other materials!
Sorry for the late visit. Internet's still giving me problems. It took me ten minutes to load this post
Thank-you, Cat! I grew up living in a house next to a graveyard in a big town in Kent so I quite agree with you about the wildlife.
I’m sorry you are still having problems with your internet. We had similar problems 18 months ago which were only resolved by changing our internet provider!
It’s nice to read you’ve had a peaceful Spring season, lovely photos especially the sunset and the butterfly, I studied butterfly patterns at school, back up in a chilly Glasgow now so I hope the sun comes back out for us all soon 🙋🏼
I love your pots with flowers, Clare. The saying on that sundial is what I’m trying to live by these long, daylight days – to make the most of it while it lasts! Too bad about your geese friends; I sincerely hope no “Americans” were involved in their demise. 😦
Thank-you Lisa. I had hoped to use these long days to work in the garden but it hasn’t worked out as well as I’d hoped – so far!
I meant no disparagement of my American friends 🙂 Many years ago there were a lot of fur farms here in the UK, full of poor mink that were used to make fur coats etc. Misguided people who were upset by this decided the best thing to do was to release all the mink into the wild. I do not like animals being killed for their fur but those mink have caused such problems! It isn’t their fault at all but they have adapted extremely well to living in this country!
I love this music choice Clare! This is a beautiful churchyard and actually seems huge or maybe the photos were deceptive. I love the quietness of churchyards and I always enjoy the lovely enclave of nature they provide. When we visit Charleston in South Carolina there is a particularly beautiful one that I like to visit as it is overgrown, very beautiful and quite historic. There are also many graves of some of the original English settlers there. It always make my daughter cross when I suggest we go wander around as she finds it spooky! Lol! Your garden is looking lovely and you have so many pretty spring flowers. I am so sorry about the Greylags though – that is so sad. I didn’t realize that you had American Minks there – not the best import!
Thank-you very much, Kate. The churchyard is quite large but I think the photos are a little deceptive too! Churchyards have never worried me as I grew up living next-door to one and my parents often took us for walks in the country and we often ended up in churches and churchyards. I love the peace and quiet and the wildlife one finds in them. I hope you are well.
Best wishes – Clare
These screams classic English and I love it. Sundials are only ever observed on days with no sun, its an unwritten law or something. How I love Narnia on any day as well, they are books for all weathers. especially in this cold summer we are having. I’m curled up under some blankets today.
Thank-you Ste J! It was definitely chilly this morning but warmed up a bit this afternoon here. I re-read all the Narnia books a few years ago and then read Rowan Williams’ appraisal of the series in his book ‘The Lion’s World – A journey into the heart of Narnia’. I found it very readable, surprisingly!
I shall look for that. I love the creation of Narnia and how everybody reads the same words and sees a different personal Narnia and then it grows old as the journey through the books begins…Such a good device to keep the reader invested.
Such a rich selection of photos and stories behind them. I especially like the birds, although that’s no surprise since I enjoy birds so much in general. It’s too bad the nest was raided. We haven’t seen as much of our river ducks this spring either, and I wonder if their nesting didn’t succeed this year. I did see one sitting on a rock exposed by the low river this morning, but my camera battery was dead, and just when I thought to try it after charging, I saw him fly upstream, so an opportunity was missed.
The butterfly is extraordinary. I don’t know of that type in our area. Beautiful markings! What fun to come upon it.
Thank-you Sheri. How annoying cameras can be sometimes!
The butterfly was a surprise in that it was early in the season and still quite cool. Peacocks are fairly common native butterflies but so beautifully marked! I hadn’t realised quite how exquisite they are until I photographed one and cropped the shot!
Yes, that’s one of the things I like about photography. Quite often I’ll find new appreciation for something when I isolate it in an image and study it’s design up close.
Karen's Nature Art said:
What a gorgeous butterfly! Love all your wild places…
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Karen!
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unionhomestead said:
Thanks for the update. You say you had a quiet time but it looks totally newsworthy to me. Love those primroses!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you! I love primroses very much.
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bitaboutbritain said:
Lovely post, Clare; peaceful and, somehow, reassuring after recent events. Could a stone or some other object have blocked that tree’s growth, or is it a malformed trunk? Loved the sound of The Pierces – must say, I had never heard of them before.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you, Mike. It could very well have been something like a stone. I will have to go and have another look at the tree. I’m glad you like The Pierces. They have a folky, 60’s sound, I think.
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susanpoozan said:
Loved all the flowers, wild ones and those in your garden. Nice to see that ordinary life goes on in these fractured times.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Susan. It was a pleasure to go back to my early spring photos after all the recent shocking news.
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Liz said:
Beautiful pictures as always, Clare – and I can smell those beautiful hyacinths from here! 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you, Liz! 🙂
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margaret21 said:
What do you mean, nothing to blog about? As ever, your post celebrates the natural world. The new growth, the sunsets are all worth recording, as you do so well.
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Clare Pooley said:
You are very kind, Margaret. Thank-you.
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Jane Sturgeon said:
Oh Clare, I love your blog. It’s like a peaceful potter down a country lane and then a wonderful catch-up over coffee…with cake. Much love flowing to you with hugs and more hugs for a lovely week. xX ❤ Xx ❤
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Clare Pooley said:
Coffee with cake! Yes please! 😀 Thank-you very much, Jane xx ❤ xx
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Jill Weatherholt said:
Your post was like taking a mini vacation, Clare. Thank you! What a fabulous shot of the butterfly! I hope everyone is well. xo
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Jill. Everyone is very well xx Have a wonderful week xo
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Laurie Graves said:
I love reading about quiet times and going for a walk with blogging friends. Oh, that butterfly!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Laurie!
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Sheila said:
Beautiful photos and I’m glad you’re having a beautiful, peaceful Spring with so many flowers blooming. I love the one of the duck soaking up the shade. He must be happy when the sun isn’t shining. I love Narnia too so that lamp post made me feel nostalgic for it. I’ve got to go back there again someday. 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you so much, Sheila. I had a re-read of all the Narnia books a couple of years ago. 🙂
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tootlepedal said:
Your spring may have been quiet but it is very beautiful. It was a great pity about your geese and having deer about must be a nightmare for you as a gardener.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you. I could do without the deer’s help in the garden.
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
I’d think, if they didn’t want you to stand around gazing, they shouldn’t have put up a sundial to gaze at.
Any one or combination of several things might have caused the tree to deform. Stress, injury, virus or fungus can all contribute. The truth is science doesn’t really know.
That was a glorious sunset!
Nice shot of the butterfly! I’ve seen a couple but they wouldn’t hold still.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you Allen. The tree seems quite healthy and has grown well despite the strange trunk. The butterfly was very sleepy and had recently come out of hibernation. I have tried to get shots of butterflies recently but I can’t keep up with most of them!
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
I know what you mean, I can’t either!
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Clare Pooley said:
😀
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quercuscommunity said:
As I scrolled down to the lamp post my first thought was “Ha, Narnia!” I also liked the advice on the sundial, though all the photos were lovely, apart from the abandoned nest. I blame mink – surely otters are just too nice to do that. 🙂
Good to see you posting again.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Simon. Life has been just a little too busy for writing posts and almost too busy to keep up with my friends recently. I also would like to think that otters were too nice to ransack the nest but…
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quercuscommunity said:
The anticipation will make my enjoyment even greater when you do post. 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
How kind! 🙂
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quercuscommunity said:
🙂
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KerryCan said:
I love the idea of staying near home and avoiding adventures–day-to-day living in a beautiful spot is plenty!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you Kerry! We are very fortunate to be able to live in such a lovely part of the country especially with all the terrible news from elsewhere. We are off to visit relatives in Manchester next week with a new baby boy to admire.
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mypeacockbooks said:
Beautiful pictures! ❤ I wish I lived in such a beautiful place! There is something oddly pleasant and peaceful about walking through a churchyard, I don't often walk through any but where I live (a very built up town) they church yards and graveyards are the places where you find so much nature among all the concrete here. Parks are often full of people here so less of a chance of seeing wildlife and wild plants.
I'm fascinated by that tree trunk too, it would take something very strong to make a dent in that tree. Usually it's trees that break up concrete and other materials!
Sorry for the late visit. Internet's still giving me problems. It took me ten minutes to load this post
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you, Cat! I grew up living in a house next to a graveyard in a big town in Kent so I quite agree with you about the wildlife.
I’m sorry you are still having problems with your internet. We had similar problems 18 months ago which were only resolved by changing our internet provider!
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Charlotte Hoather said:
It’s nice to read you’ve had a peaceful Spring season, lovely photos especially the sunset and the butterfly, I studied butterfly patterns at school, back up in a chilly Glasgow now so I hope the sun comes back out for us all soon 🙋🏼
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you, Charlotte. I hope it warms up for you too! We had a glorious day here today so there is hope!
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Lavinia Ross said:
I am listening to your music selection, and like it very much!
Beautiful photos of your area as summer approaches! I, too, love the informal nature of your churchyards, as they should be. 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Lavinia.
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Lisa G. said:
I love your pots with flowers, Clare. The saying on that sundial is what I’m trying to live by these long, daylight days – to make the most of it while it lasts! Too bad about your geese friends; I sincerely hope no “Americans” were involved in their demise. 😦
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you Lisa. I had hoped to use these long days to work in the garden but it hasn’t worked out as well as I’d hoped – so far!
I meant no disparagement of my American friends 🙂 Many years ago there were a lot of fur farms here in the UK, full of poor mink that were used to make fur coats etc. Misguided people who were upset by this decided the best thing to do was to release all the mink into the wild. I do not like animals being killed for their fur but those mink have caused such problems! It isn’t their fault at all but they have adapted extremely well to living in this country!
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Lisa G. said:
What an unfortunate situation!
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Andrea Stephenson said:
I enjoyed sharing the sights of your quiet spring Clare 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Andrea.
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Cynthia Reyes said:
This is so lovely. Not sure why I never saw it before, Clare!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much my dear Cynthia!
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Kate R said:
I love this music choice Clare! This is a beautiful churchyard and actually seems huge or maybe the photos were deceptive. I love the quietness of churchyards and I always enjoy the lovely enclave of nature they provide. When we visit Charleston in South Carolina there is a particularly beautiful one that I like to visit as it is overgrown, very beautiful and quite historic. There are also many graves of some of the original English settlers there. It always make my daughter cross when I suggest we go wander around as she finds it spooky! Lol! Your garden is looking lovely and you have so many pretty spring flowers. I am so sorry about the Greylags though – that is so sad. I didn’t realize that you had American Minks there – not the best import!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you very much, Kate. The churchyard is quite large but I think the photos are a little deceptive too! Churchyards have never worried me as I grew up living next-door to one and my parents often took us for walks in the country and we often ended up in churches and churchyards. I love the peace and quiet and the wildlife one finds in them. I hope you are well.
Best wishes – Clare
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powerunderthesaddle said:
This pictures are lovely, Clare. Sitting here I virtually had a tour.
Love that sunset !
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Clare Pooley said:
How very kind, thank-you!
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Ste J said:
These screams classic English and I love it. Sundials are only ever observed on days with no sun, its an unwritten law or something. How I love Narnia on any day as well, they are books for all weathers. especially in this cold summer we are having. I’m curled up under some blankets today.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you Ste J! It was definitely chilly this morning but warmed up a bit this afternoon here. I re-read all the Narnia books a few years ago and then read Rowan Williams’ appraisal of the series in his book ‘The Lion’s World – A journey into the heart of Narnia’. I found it very readable, surprisingly!
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Ste J said:
I shall look for that. I love the creation of Narnia and how everybody reads the same words and sees a different personal Narnia and then it grows old as the journey through the books begins…Such a good device to keep the reader invested.
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sherijkennedyriverside said:
Such a rich selection of photos and stories behind them. I especially like the birds, although that’s no surprise since I enjoy birds so much in general. It’s too bad the nest was raided. We haven’t seen as much of our river ducks this spring either, and I wonder if their nesting didn’t succeed this year. I did see one sitting on a rock exposed by the low river this morning, but my camera battery was dead, and just when I thought to try it after charging, I saw him fly upstream, so an opportunity was missed.
The butterfly is extraordinary. I don’t know of that type in our area. Beautiful markings! What fun to come upon it.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank-you Sheri. How annoying cameras can be sometimes!
The butterfly was a surprise in that it was early in the season and still quite cool. Peacocks are fairly common native butterflies but so beautifully marked! I hadn’t realised quite how exquisite they are until I photographed one and cropped the shot!
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sherijkennedyriverside said:
Yes, that’s one of the things I like about photography. Quite often I’ll find new appreciation for something when I isolate it in an image and study it’s design up close.
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