May 13th – Every day now there are new wildflowers to be found on verges, towpaths, wasteland and in hedgerows. Devil’s paintbrushes – Hawkweed – caught my eye this morning, as did birdsfoot trefoil and the beautiful, perfect seeding dandelions.
And all these on an unremarkable Darlaston industrial estate.
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May 10th – One of the odder brand crossovers of the last few years has been Land Rover branding bicycles.
Company 2×2 Bikes designs distinctly average mountain bikes and sells them under the Land Rover brand, hoping presumably that some of the off-road cachet is gained by association.
Looking at this one in a customer’s bike shed, it’s a decent, if unremarkable low end steed: Better than a bike-shaped object one would buy from a discounter but not great either.
I’d have expected a bike badged with this brand to be something unusual. I wonder if the bikes are less prone to breakdown than their 4×4 stablemates?
An oddly bland product with a strange association.
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May 10th – One of the most unnoticed blossoms of all that decorate the hedgerows and waysides this time of year is rowan, or mountain ash. This pretty, nicely scented flowers are mostly little appreciated because they appear at the same time as hawthorn flowers, so it all blends into one.
Rowan has beautiful orange berries that are good for jams and wine, and are a lovely splash of late-summer colour.
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May 9th – I had to go to telford – again, in stead but thankfully fairly light rain.
Whilst I might be rueing the grey and damp, the greenery appears to be loving it. On the cycleway from Telford Station to Priorslee, the green tunnel has now fully returned after months of barren bare tress and hedgerows.
This is actually a joy to cycle along – alive with birds and insects, different types of tree and blossom and such beautiful, vivid colour.
It is in the most unexpected, urban spaces one finds the most stunning, remarkable beauty.
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May 8th – A day when both the ride to work, and ride home were rain sodden and miserable. The traffic was mad, the roads terrible and it was cold and grim.
They say it’s set to warm up after the weekend.
I do hope so. This weather is seriously getting to me now, I have to say.
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May 7th – Further up the canal at Bentley Bridge near Darlaston Green, another sign of spring: The roses are flowering on the edge of the canal – rather poetically between scrapyards either side of the canal, between which the green vein of the canal ambles, being beautiful.
The roses smell gorgeous and are a true joy to the heart in such grey times.
I don’t know where the warmth and sun are hiding but we could do with them back. But in the meantime, this is a wonderful burst of brightness for sure.
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May 3rd – It’s always interesting to watch the variety and spread of oak galls on the trees I pass.
At the moment, rosy red oak apples are developing well, corrupted from leaf buds by the tiny wasp who laid her egg in the bud. Her larvae will hatch inside, done on the inside of the gall and drill their way out when mature.
Fascinating things that don’t harm the tree and continue a millennia old relationship between oak and parasite.
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May 3rd – Although it’s still not the warm May weather I’d hope for, it’s good to see and smell the may blossom along the hedgerows and waysides.
Although often overlooked, it’s a beautiful blossom with a love-hate scent that is particularly unmistakable.
I guess to the ancients, this lovely flower marked the height of spring and a move in to summer.
I welcome that if the temperatures increase a bit!
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May 2nd – There are many reasons why the local canals develop an organic, natural scum throughout the year. From pollens to seeds, from tree-mast to algae, all kinds of unpleasant looking but natural detritus develops and dissipates throughout the seasons.
Due to the early spring warmth and extended spring, at the moment there’s a very heavy scum on much of the local canal, but particularly in the wind-traps around Walsall Wood and Clayhanger. At he moment it’s mostly appearing to be a combination of reedmace detritus, algae, sallow seeds, disintegrated hazel, alder and birch catkins and hawthorn blossom petals. I’ve never seen a scum so heavy at this time of year.
Given time and sun it should dissipate and fade away. but for the moment, it’s quite ugly but perfectly natural.
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May 1st – Horses are curious beasts. Just off the McLean Way at Goscote, home to many a tethered horse, I saw this one fast asleep on it’s side.
Horses often sleep lying on their sides like this, and it’s perfectly normal – however, it’s something that unless you’re around the animals a fair bit, you don’t realise. Sometimes people not knowing think the animal has died. In the vast majority of instances, it’s just a horse, sleeping, like this one.
Lying there, I watched it for a while, until it grunted in it’s slumber and farted loudly. Bless it.
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