Saturday January 30th 2021 – I had to nip to the shops on an errand, but wanted to miss the worst of the lockdown queues, so went as late in the day as possible, and then headed up to Walsall Wood to get some bits for a DIY project, I realised it was still just about light at 4:45pm.
Spring really can’t be far away now, the light is flooding back.
Even on this grey, chilly winter day, it filled my heart with joy.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3rWBAJk
via IFTTT
Thursday January 28th 2021 – I noticed on the Walsall Road in Darlaston that a camelia in an overgrown front garden is heavily in bud.
I’ve never noticed this particular one before – it’s large and seemingly untended.
Camelias are beautiful spring shrubs with huge and plentiful, but sadly short-lived blooms.
I’l looking forward to watching this one: Fascinatingly it seems to be in the garden of a house converted to flats, with nobody bothering about the front garden.
Looks like the tenants are in for a beautiful surprise…
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3qhO25M
via IFTTT
Saturday January 23rd 2021 – There was cold weather coming in, with the possibility of snow. I could feel it in the afternoon air as I nipped up to Walsall Wood.
The hazel katkins were having none of it, though: They were coming out and although sparse, were a very welcome splash of light green in a grey winter landscape.
These blooms are the male flowers of the tree, the female ones are tiny. Hopefully the nut crop will not be too sparse this season, despite the thinness of the number of katkins on display…
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3a1RoEs
via IFTTT
Wednesday January 20th 2021 – Kings Hill Park, Darlaston. Daffodil flower buds, despite the cold and misery.
They know nothing of the pandemic, they know only that soon it’ll be time for them to shine and do their thing.
Spring, in lockdown or not, will be heavenly this year. It’s coming, they know. Hold on.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3oUk6uV
via IFTTT
Wednesday January 13th 2021 – Someone complained to me today that my 365days was a bit down in the dumps of late. I guess it is, a little. It’s always hard to stay positive when you’re in midwinter and inspiration, and daylight, are hard to come by.
I will try and make it a little more positive in coming days and weeks: but that shouldn’t be as hard, because we’ll soon have lighter nights, daylight commutes, and spring flowers.
On the way back to work after an errand I spotted this roadside daisy in Pleck. It was open, beautiful, and optimistic.
I think I should learn by it’s example.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/38PbYXY
via IFTTT
Monday January 11th 2021 – Life is grim in the UK right now: The pandemic is claiming higher and higher numbers of people every day, and the economy is taking sustained hits from it and Brexit. It’s taking superhuman levels of self discipline to be able to just listen to a radio news bulletin.
But all is not lost: The darkest hour comes before dawn and the vaccine is being distributed quickly and professionally. It’s nice to see science working so well.
In the midst of all this I ride my bike to and from work as usual, in an often alienating world of masked up, hostile fellow citizens. Some days it feels like normality will never return.
But it will, and the spring flowers know it. Jack in the Green has tapped the ground with his cane, and everywhere you look fresh green shoots are optimistically shooting skyward, in anticipation of the warming spring sun.
They know like we must all know deep down, that these cold, grim days will pass. And so they will.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3bwezrG
via IFTTT
May 1st – A ride down into Stonnall and the lanes. It had been a rollercoaster of a week emotionally, but at least we seem to be getting the virus under control. Things don’t seem as terribly threatening as they did.
Winching my way up Castlehill out of the village onto the Chester Road, the lanes here – severed by the straightening of the Chester Road many decades ago – are leafy and peaceful, and diverge oddly.
But in the quiet of a lockdown spring evening, with birds singing and soft sunlight coming through the leaves, this was close to heaven, and like my body, my mind was climbing, slowly.
This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2Wz30ry
via IFTTT
April 29th – And, despite a downturn in the weather, nature still keeps me going day to day, and it’s particularly splendid right now.
On an afternoon exercise ride, I didn’t stray too far due to stomach cramps, but stood on the Pier Street bridge, one of my favourite views now has a gorgeous bright green jacket on.
The canalside trees, now so tall they can obscure the view to Humphries House are looking bright and fresh, as are the woodlands dotted over Clayhanger Common where the different species, leaf types and shapes make for a wonderful tapestry.
And on the water below? Blossom petals drifting lazily of the water surface.
It might not be much, but after those dark days and wet winter, it looks wonderful to me.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2SmphX9
via IFTTT
April 25th – Saturday morning, again shockingly quiet despite protests of ‘too many people ignoring the lockdown’ on social media. Brownhills and the countryside around it simmered gently in the warm sun.
Things are greening over nicely now. The azolla bloom on the canal is gradually decreasing and everything looked magnificent.
I need to record and cherish these times, for they will, I think, get me through future bad ones. These times when you can enjoy the peace of the old cement works bridge or the view over Home Farm and not hear traffic, not see people but just drink in the warmth, the season and the song of birds and the buzz of bees.
Nature is regardless of human woes and that’s a good reason to keep taking the next steps.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2KDG2sw
via IFTTT
April 24th – A short exercise ride, still working from home, mostly. Despite the strangeness in everyday human society, the natural world continues as normal.
Nice to see the moorhens pairing off to mate. Such humble, unassuming little birds.
I keep saying it, but it’s the normal, beautiful events of spring that are keeping me going day to day at the moment.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3585pft
via IFTTT
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 