August 2nd – Another summer soldier that looks superb in rain is the dog rose. Still flowering well and looking gorgeous, like the willow herb they line the paths, tracks, verges and edgelands of town and country, and I think few people really notice them.
Which is sad, because as these in Darlaston show – growing outside a disused factory – they really are beautiful.
So many unsung heroes amongst the wayside flowers.
August 2nd – Passing through Wednesbury mid morning on an errand, I caught a beautiful bed of flowers in the park. Not sure what they are, but on a grey, wet morning with very little to commend it, they brightened my day immensely.
Hope the sunshine comes back soon…
August 1st – A return home in steady drizzle that wasn’t as bad as expected. At Clayhanger, I noted the purple rose bay willowherb was flowering well and looking beautiful in the rain.
It won’t be long before this dweller of the wastelands and scrubs goes to seed, and the light, wind-borne seeds drift around on the breeze.
A beautiful plant on a wet afternoon.
July 27th – A foul commute in steady rain and a headwind, with the greasy roads I’d experienced a couple of days ago. There was really nothing at all to commend cycling this morning.
And then I passed the ripening rowan berries, bright orange and glistening with raindrops, and the morning didn’t seem as grim anymore.
I love how nature does that.
July 26th – The harvest started a few days before the weather broke yesterday, bringing it to a juddering halt – I note some bales in fields now, but mostly the combine harvester hasn’t been around much yet.
This field of wheat at Sandhills looks mostly ready now, but look closely at those plump ears and there’s still a fair way to go yet.
Hopefully, the current damp spell will pass quickly and the harvest can continue before mould sets in.
July 25th – A horrid, horrid ride home. I had to take a trip into Birmingham on my return from work, and I caught the train out. On my return from the station, it rained the sort of fine, penetrating rain that searches out every not-quite closed zip and aperture on your jacket, and just soaks you. But far, far worse than being wet were the road conditions.
The first rains after a dry spell are always bad – but if they aren’t heavy, the surface water they precipitate mixes with road grime, tyre detritus, spilled fuel and oils and makes a soapy, foamy, slimy emulsion that steals wheels from under you. I slid a couple of times. I head cars skid at junctions. It was awful.
I was glad to get home, just as the rain stopped. There hasn’t been enough rain to wash this away yet, so watch out the next time we have wet weather.
Be careful out there folks.
July 13th – Running an errand at dusk, a beautiful sunset, and just after a heavy rain shower, very nearly a surface air inversion with small patches of mist drifting off the canal, but just a little too breezy for it to develop into anything.
The weather has been atrocious lately, but evenings like this – cool, clear and peaceful – make you remember what summer’s about.
July 10th – The wind was still dreadful, and the skies were dark as I left the house mid afternoon. I again had stuff to do in Burntwood, so cut through Chasewater, which is still, despite the valves being open, only an inch or so off full.
The water level of the lake directly impacts Fly Pool and the creek that runs through it, and the boardwalk constructed over the creek itself shows a slight design fault at times of high water level.
Oh dear – but it does look wonderfully dramatic.
July 1st – Has half the year gone already? Really? Wow.
I flew from Walsall with the wind behind me just after the rain passed, and with a call to make in Stonnall, I let the wind blow me on a lazy loop around Shenstone. The wet lanes glistened in the sunlight, and the sky was deep blue. With the wet June, everything is verdant ad green, except the barley, which is turning now to the gold of high summer.
As the year and seasons move inexorably on, although it’s been wet, it hasn’t felt like a bad year for the weather. Let’s hope we get a drier, sunnier July and August.
June 30th – As we approach what is a very damp midsummer, the flowers and greenery are beautiful this year, even if the weather isn’t. Although the early flush of blossom and spring colour has now passed, there are now more gentle delights if you look carefully.
The thistles are just emerging now, in several forms and the self-heal has been in bloom for a week or two now, with it’s tiny, but beautifully coloured flower heads. Also remarkable and spotted today near the cycleway at Goscote, this wonderful orchid.
Purple definitely seems to be the colour of the moment.
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