June 6th – I had a remarkable journey home, assisted by a big west wind, that blew me back in 45 minutes at an astonishing average of 16mph. I was also remarkable dry, catching only the briefest edge of a squall at Shelfield.
The remarkably local rainfall was illustrated well as I came down Green Lane, where everything was sodden, but the sky was clearing.
A remarkably luck commute – in total contrast to the morning.
You win some, you lose some…
June 5th – The rain caught me on the way home, but at least the awful wind was well behind me.
Everything is green now and it was quite warm, so in that manner summer rain has, it wasn’t so bad, but I was very wet.
Listening to the music of the rain on the canal at Clayhanger was sad, but reassuring…
June 1st – I’d been into Birmingham on the way home, and came back on the train to Blake Street with a headache riding shotgun. Although it was a pleasant, temperate afternoon, it wasn’t terribly bright, but as I passed Grove Hill near Stonnall, the sky lightened.
That tree, that hill, are local icons and subject of much legend. But for all that, they’re beautiful, especially in the summer, and make me feel I’m nearly home when I see them.
May 31st – Since were in the largely purple phase of flowering now, it would be wrong to overlook this tiny gem. Prolific on grass verges, towpath margins and anywhere with decent light and room to spread, vetch is a gorgeous, long lasting lilac-violet colour and brightens many otherwise dull corners.
It really is a highlight of summer and one I look forward to enjoying seeing.
May 26th – This chump of flowers seem to show every year, growing just on the edge of the Southwest parapet of the railway bridge at Hollyhill Lane, Shenstone. I’m fairly sure they’re aquilegia, or grannies bonnets as Susan Marie Ward has no doubt told me before, and they’re absolutely gorgeous.
I presume they’re garden escapees, as I don’t think I see them wild anywhere else, which makes me wonder why there are the two different coloured plants here.
Maybe it was guerrilla seeding, or made just seeds present is someone’s dumped garden waste – whichever, they’re a delight to the heart.
May 23rd – With warmer weather, during the warm hours, the urban cat population revert ro their languid, lazy norms, finding shady, peaceful spots to doze and watch the world go by – at least until it’s cooler, when they tend to be more active.
Coming through central Walsall in the afternoon, this young overseer of the neighbourhood was en repose on top of the wheeliebins in a shady front garden, and clearly enjoying the cool vantage point.
Seeing such characters emerge is one of the best things about summer…
May 21st – A much nicer day with warm sun and gentle southerly breeze. I headed out through Stonnall to Footherley, then Canwell, Hints, Tamworth and on the canal to Polesworth, returning via Orton on the Hill, Austrey, Clifton and Harlaston. A nice 60 miler.
We’re into summer now; the leaves are fully out, the air is alive with bugs, bees and birds, and pollen is the dominant scent. The countryside of Staffordshire and Leicestershire was beautiful, and I was pleased to note the honeybees still nest in the roof of Hints Church, as they have done for decades.
All topped off with a lovely sunset over Ogley Hay that showed St James Church beautifully.
Changeless, and beautiful.
May16th – I note the annual appearance of lupins with interest; growing near Clayhanger Bridge on the canal bank, the purple always bloom before the pink and white; and I don’t suppose they are really but they seem very early this year.
Still, it’s lovely to have them back, and to note the start of the rash of purple flowers coming soon – vetch, marsh orchids and others.
There’s something new every day right now. I love summer’s first breath.
May 10th – I pottered into Brownhills for a mid-afternoon recovery ride to do so errands, and with the warm afternoon sun, everything was beautiful and felt right: the canal at Silver Street is wearing it’s summer jacket of green and blue, the boats and waterfowl were quietly busying themselves and all was right with the world for a change.
Also busy, but probably busy doing nothing, a black and white resident of the canalside who took up a better vantage point to observe me, observing him.
The canal cats really are wonderful at the moment.
October 5th – Of all the flowers hanging on in this odd autumn, the butter and eggs is one of my favourites. It’s still flowering well along the hedgerows and towpaths of Walsall Wood and Brownhills, and this example was spotted near Walsall Wood Bridge.
It’s getting colder now, though, and it won’t be long until the first frost, which I think should put an end to this unusually long flowering season.
Which is a shame. The flowers have been wonderful this year.
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