February 2nd – Kings Hill Park in Darlaston is a real treat at the moment, for the miniature daffodils, crocuses and finally snowdrops are in flower.
Spring has come already and it’s only the 2nd of February.
In all my days, I’ve never know daffodils and crocuses beat snowdrops into bloom. These past couple of years have seen some crazy seasons.
To see these flowers was a real joy to the heart.
January 31st – It’s been a hard weekend. Technology hasn’t been working well, and I’ve not been well with a cold. Today I was better, but felt low, and the grey, inclement weather didn’t help. I decided I needed physical activity, so I turned the computer off and went in search of some colour.
Thankfully, I found it.
In St. Anne’s churchyard and cemetery opposite in Chasetown, spring has arrived due to the unseasonably warm weather. A single daffodil bobbed in the wind (such that my photos of it were nothing but a blur); easter primroses and calendula were bright and cheering.
Despite the terrible light and encroaching dusk, I think it can be seen that the usual carpet of purple and white crocuses in the cemetery is just coming into flower.
It’s the last day of January, and I’ve still to see a single solitary snowdrop.
The seasons in the last two years have been mad – I have no idea what’s going on. But thanks to them, my mood was lifted on a very dull last day in January.
January 10th – A terrible, snatched photo, but a signifier of this bizarre season – an early arrival spotted on a roadside verge in Chase Terrace.
This winter is seriously strange.
May 26th – I had cause to visit Walsall Wood on my way home, on a surprisingly busy Tuesday evening. The sun was shining, but it was cold, with a sharp headwind; this May has had much of the wolf about it and I shall be glad to see the back of it and get some calmer, warmer days in.
I love the view up Shire Oak Hill to the northeast; surprisingly green, busting, the rooftops and chimneys, combined with a cheerful urban optimism always makes me feel good.
This isn’t such a bad place.
May 25th – On the Plants Brook/New Hall Valley cycle route NCN 535 just outside Sutton, the colour of the season is creamy white; hawthorn, apple and cow parsley as far as you can see.
If cow parsley wasn’t so prolific, we’d treasure it. It’s gorgeous.
May 22nd – A quick trip to Lichfield after lunch on a very dull afternoon which seemed to be constantly threatening rain, yet still I noticed how immaculate Friary Gardens were looking in their springtime colours. The trees and blossom looked wonderful, and I was particularly struck by the ceanothus, the blue flowering shrub.
Lichfield has every reason to be proud of it’s parks and open spaces; Friary Gardens are little-noticed but beautifully kept and a credit to the city.
May 20th – I’m intrigued by these deep yellow poppies, which seem very, very early and somewhat unusual. They’re growing in dense undergrowth near the Black Cock Bridge in Walsall Wood, and were so bright they caught my eye as I rode past.
Are they indigenous, or garden escapees? Whatever they are, they’re beautiful.
May 19th – Most of the day, the weather was dynamic. Sun, rain, wind, hail, sun… but even in the sun, it still looked black over Bill’s Mothers. The coos knew what they were doing.
I got soaked three times. But the rain passed as quickly as it came and it wasn’t cold.
May. It rages and it roars and it blows; but usually, it creeps out on tiptoe, spent from all the tantrums.
May 16th – Second day running with a decent ride, although the weather was quite heavy going on the way back with a nasty headwind. The sun was out though, and I made a good average speed.
I headed to Coton in the Elms via Lichfield, Whitemoor Haye and Catton, and returned via Lullington, Edingale, Harlaston, Weefor and Shenstone. Everywhere was green and springlike, and the countryside as beautiful as ever.
Try as I might, I still can’t get over the sight of horses in fly masks. I know they can see though them, and that otherwise, flies drive horses mad; but they do so look like wannabe equine superheroes.
A fine ride.
May 15th – Into Birmingham on an afternoon off, and I headed from home down through Sutton Park and the Plants Brook Valley. Hitting the canal at Tyburn, I was struck by the huge number of Canada Gees families with newly hatched young. So cute, it’s hard to imagine these gold and grey balls of fluff turn into the hectoring, hissing adults they do.
They are such excellent birds.
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