After FINALLY tackling some long-overdue housework this morning, I took advantage of the sunshine and had a walk up the valley, surprising a bevy of sunbathers as I did so . . .
Here they were before they noticed me.
The two greys are mother and daughter.
I was trying to capture some beautiful tree shapes again. Here is one earlier in the walk. I had just stopped to take a photo and then watched a pair of Long Tailed Tits playfully following one another along the hedgerow.
Rafts of Saxifraga oppositifolia in the wet alder-carr woodland.
There's an old trackway runs through these trees (you might just see the bank edging it on the stretch of deciduous woodland). It used to go to an old cottage, whose name eludes me, but all that is left of the place now is half a brick. I wrote a poem about it once.
Leaves of Lords and Ladies enjoying the sunshine.
Beside my neighbour's farm, an ancient Medieval holloway which takes you into the next parish. I used to ride up here sometimes, and more recently, walk - either from this end going up and in a circle, or sometimes the other loop. It has a real feeling linking you to the past, and the landscape looks totally different from this ancient trackway.
At Nant Gwilw, this huge old oak tree must be 600 years old or even more. It is vast around the trunk.
Another winter-bare tree - an oak - which has seen many a winter.
Lastly, found in a charity shop on my recent travels. C. 1980s Laura Ashley hexagons. £2.50.
Just £1.50 for all these. it must have been my lucky day!
Had I not paid full whack for them at Christmas, I could have got a big cutting mat and an Omnigrid too (£4.99 each). Ah well . . . someone else will benefit.
