oilseed rape | BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

Posts tagged ‘oilseed rape’

#365daysofbiking These lanes were mine

April 19th – The ride took me down Hobs Hole in Aldridge, over Wood Lane and Lower Stonnall, and around by Stonnall Church. It was a beautiful afternoon, and nature did it’s best to entertain me and lift my mood, which wasn’t all that great with an attack of IBS.

Nature succeeded. And there was barely a soul around.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I hate the lockdown, although I understand how necessary it is. But I’m loving these quiet lanes.

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#365daysofbiking Home front

April 17th – A quick ride on a day that had been decent, but started to darken as I left the house in the afternoon, and actually came on to rain as I arrived home.

I nipped to the canal at Ogley Hay to check out the oilseed rape at Home Farm: Still not quite fully out but looking beautiful all the same.

But what really shocked me was my favourite tree: The handsome, beautiful horse chestnut on the skyline near the farmhouse. I tell the seasons by that tree and it’s rapidly come on to leaf.

A new bright green jacket smartly adorning an old friend.

Spring is definitely on her throne!

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#365daysofbiking Heliocentric

March 30th – The day was a little more summery than that previously and on my way home I nipped up the canal to see if the field of oilseed rape was out yet at Home Farm.

It’s getting there, it’s getting there. About another week to ten days, depending on how warm and sunny it is.

I love the smell, the colour and the spectacle of the sun-loving brassica. A real sign summer is coming!

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#365daysofbiking Poppy red

June 16th – Looks like it’s going to be a good year for crop-field poppies: The gorgeous effect where these delightful flowers bloom amongst agricultural crops and present patches or whole fields of red.

At Stubby Leas near Elford, this gorgeous patch of big red flowers in a field of oilseed rape were absolutely delightful and a patch of brightness after the sun had gone in.

The feathery, fussy and lovely flower was found growing in a ditch, beside the quarry at Sittles, all by itself.

You can’t mention poppies without thinking of the symbolism of Remembrance and they are so beautifully appropriate.

You certainly never forget with these lovely tributes occurring naturally.

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#365daysofbiking Neon yellow

April 23rd – A day of bike maintenance, then a run late afternoon to Shenstone on an errand. The weather was changing; it was colder and the sky looked threatening.

However, the spring colours, although muted in the grey light, didn’t disappoint. The oilseed rape between Shenstone and Footherley was gorgeous and the path through it to the woods magical.

Refreshing on a grey day.

Hope the sunshine returns soon.

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#365daysofbiking The magic hour

April 21st – I was, it has to be said, physically battered from the previous day – my body is clearly raging and takes longer to recover now than it did. On a pleasant Sunday I pottered over to relatives in Burntwood and returned in a gorgeous golden hour and stopped as I laboured back up the hill to admire the oilseed rape fields of Hammerwich in the dying sunlight.

The recovery ride was pleasant and enjoyable but hard work. But in this light it was a joy.

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#365daysofbiking Sunshine yellow

April 19th – Spring is mostly about yellow for me. Cowslips, daffodils, oilseed rape and dandelions, the latter two painting the fields different shades of gorgeous on a diving evening.

Near Chesterfield, Wall an untouched meadow of dandelions looked superb, and will make most wonderful hay or grazing.

At Sandhills, the oilseed caught the dying sun wonderfully and lovely as ever, smelled of Swiss cheese.

Glad to have better days here at last.

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August 12th – I was hoping to snap out of it. I certainly felt better today; the cramps eased and I did more of what I had to do. But the early, end of summer blues really had me around the neck. It’s ridiculous really.

But this is the problem with having a good summer. You get used to it and feel that it might never end.

I took a spin to Chasewater to see if I could find some wildlife to cheer me up. I failed.

I noticed on the way that the rolling hills to Hammerwich were, after the vivid yellow of spring’s oilseed rape flowering, the gold of high summer and brown hot harvest, now… green. The rain on the stubble in the last couple of days must have really stimulated a bolt of growth. Stunning, really.

I was impressed by the two sunflowers growing near Chasewater Dam, though, just on the south shore. They must have germinated from bird seed.

Now they did cheer me right up!

July 27th – A journey to Burntwood on the way home, and I noticed that the hills of Hammerwich were now stubble too. This view is changeless yet ever-changing, and it fascinates me.

A real slice of home.

May 12th – Another dull day and one on which I wasn’t feeling so well, so just a short circuit of Brownhills for a couple of errands.

I travelled on the canal past Home Farm at Sandhills, and noted that the crops there were really coming on now. Not just the bright yellow of the oilseed rape, but the shimmering green of what I think is a feed of barley was gorgeous too. Within a few short weeks we’ve gone from winter to late spring/early summer and it’s been like firing a starting gun.

Even on a dull day with an uncomfortable stomach, just the colours of this season are enough to cheer me up.