Wandering walks …
19/04/2015 § 2 Comments
earlier on this evening, my friend and I wandered along The Itchen Way, near Itchen Abbas …
the wide river runs over chalk, is crystal clear and famous for its trout
paddling collies – no trout here!
“Missus – my toes are cold!”
and a postcard, for Flora – “Isn’t he a handsome chap?” …
The girls are benefitting from some interesting walks. Son J2 is good company and usually takes his camera. I’ve treated myself to a little pocket camera – Canon SX600 – I’m really pleased with it so far though there are lots of effects that I haven’t played with yet.
Here’s another countryside walk a day or so ago, in glorious sunshine …
beautiful Hampshire in Spring
Blossom just beginning to appear
Did you know that the easiest way to tell whether blossom is from Hawthorn or Blackthorn bushes is apparently quite simple: Blackthorn blossom appears on the branches before the leaves, unlike Hawthorn. Blackthorn also appears a bit earlier. Both are members of the rose family.
Now I’m confused – maybe the blossom appeared before the little leaves, so it’s blackthorn?? What do you think?
In Wales, the Hawthorn is often called Bara Caws (bread and cheese) as the young leaves are meant to taste similar. I’ve used the red berries in Hedgerow Jelly along with other wild foraging fruits. I’ll have to come back in the Autumn and see whether these bushes bear the fruits of the Blackthorn (sloes) or the red berries of Hawthorn, then next year I’ll be able to test the blossom theory! Yeah – as if!!!
This evening I’ve stewed the first rhubarb from the garden – always a treat. I’ve made some shortbread to go with it for after our supper. This afternoon J2 made some wooden raised beds for the veg patch and then we laid some gravel – it’s looking good. I’ll be back with some photos in the week. Oh, and there’s another quilt order to finish too! Busy days! Enjoy your week.
Adaliza x
The Hampshire countryside in spring looks lovely. I expected Flora would have loved the river! i eat a leaf the other day thinking it was hawthorn and it didn’t taste very nice – maybe it was blackthorn! Unfortunately we aren’t going to the spring fayre this year only the concert on the Friday evening. Sarah x
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Maybe I’ll still be there on Friday night, setting up my stand! Flora would have loved that handsome little drake – she’s getting very frustrated in her amorous advances to the watering-can!
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