Tag: commute

April 19th – Spotted on the way home, a small group of red deer at the far side of a freshly planted field on the south side of Jockey Meadows, near High Heath.

Haven’t seen deer on this side of Green Lane for a while. They were right over by the brook, and I guess they’d been laying low in the marsh there for most of the day.

I still can’t really believe we live in a place where these large, wonderful and beautiful creatures roam freely.

After all these years, to see the deer is still a delight.

April 18th – A devil of a day beset by difficulties at work. I rode off early in the morning into an unpleasant headwind with a bad stomach and the day didn’t improve much. I was distracted on the way home by a mechanical issue, and just took these photos of the new pond at Clayhanger, which is greening up beautifully at the moment, but is suffering a little for being a hanging-out place for local kids who are littering a little. 

Hopefully in a few weeks the slopes around the pool will be alive with orchids again, as they were last year. Sadly, it’s a bit too wet down there at the moment to investigate.

Repairs carried out at home, I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow – it wouldn’t be hard to achieve.

April 14th – Cat season is again upon us. As the weather warms and the days lengthen, the formerly hitherto invisible cat population emerge into the light, loafing, strolling and watching the world go by.

This beautiful animal was watching me in Scarborough Road, Walsall, in the morning, in a street surveyed by six or seven feline overseers.

I love to see them. A real sign of summer on the way.

April 13th – I spotted her on the way home, something I don’t think I’ve seen before, a Canada goose nest. From my vantage point on the opposite side of the canal, I couldn’t decide at the time if she was sitting a nest, or just resting. It’s clearly the former, looking at the material underneath her.

This nest is right on the canalside behind the factories on Maybrook Road, between Walsall Wood and Brownhills. My goodness, she’s vulnerable to foxes there.

Lovely to see, though. Hope she’ll be OK.

April 7th – Passing through Telford mid morning, I passed a bank of daffodils on an embankment near the cycleway. There were were several varieties of the flower here – normal types, some lovely feathery yellow ones, white ones and others with beautiful orange centres. They were an absolute joy to the heart after a few bad commutes – as were the beautiful polyanthus in the planter at Telford station.

This is a very unusual spring, but the usually short lived spring flowers seem to have been in bloom for ages now, and i like that very much. After the darkness of winter, it’s always good to see a fine display of these gorgeous plants.

April 5th – A bad day for commuting, really; soaked with a headwind on the way to work, and shot blasted by hail and caught in a short, sharp shower on the way home. But at least by then, the wind was behind me.

The rain on my return was broken by periods of bright sunshine which although directly warm on the back, couldn’t counter the strong, bitter wind; but we did get a rainbow. Almost Imperceptible to the northeast, but stronger over the darker cloud to the southeast it was beautiful – and a good while since I saw one.

Talk about four seasons in one day…

April 6th – Heading out on an errand from work late morning after a windy, wet and decidedly unpleasant commute was like chalk and cheese. Where I’d been relentlessly battered by driving rain and a headwind, it was actually sunny and pleasant as I rode down to Great Bridge.

Near Great Bridge, in a main road hedgerow, leaves are developing well. Hawthorn, beech and birch add a welcome splash of green after the grey winter months.

April 4th – An odd day – heavy showers in the morning interspersed with bright, warm sunny periods, and a nightmare, torrential-rain soaked ride home. At lunchtime on an errand from work into Walsall, I have no idea what the pigeon was thinking, but it seemed happy. Walsall dripped, sparkled and glistened, and the swans at Bentley Bridge didn’t seem bothered. 

The homeward trip was fun, but very wet. Flash floods hit the main roads and drains blew their covers. It was warm though, so not too bad.

I guess this are April showers, then…

March 24th – Passing through Wednesbury, I noticed this bank of daffodils by an industrial estate verge. Now that’s a fine thing and I was very happy to see them, then I noticed that amongst the standard yellow variety, there was white too.

I wonder if that was a happy accident or a genetic mutation? Whatever the cause, a delight to the soul for sure.

March 22nd – A cockup. I took loads of photos today on the way to work, not realising I had the camera set in some horrid artistic mode and they all came out as blurry rubbish.

The only pictures that came out reasonably where these, where I’d picked a different mode – and being handheld, neither are very good, sadly.

I had to call in to Walsall Wood on the way home, and hopped on the canal at Hollanders Bridge. The night-cap from there was  gorgeous, as were the lights of Barrow Close. I just wish I’d captured them better.

Ah well, another day.