Marsh Marigolds.

Did someone mention going for a W.A.L.K.? We have taken to spelling certain words in our house because there is always the chance that somebody will hear!

After the doom and gloom of my earlier posts I am delighted to report that we have just spotted a water vole in the little stream which runs close by here. Everyone feared that we had seen the last of this native but now scarce creature.

The photographs show a little patch of woodland which is a mere hop, skip and a jump away from our house. Nobody ventures too far into this little patch because it is very boggy and home to the odd snake. I believe them to be grass snakes but others say they are adders. As you can see the environment provides the perfect place for Marsh Marigolds which is believed to be one of our most ancient native plants. It seems that as the glaciers retreated after the last ice age the landscape became inundated by glacial meltwaters which provided a perfect home for these moisture loving plants, sometimes referred to as Kingcups. I think they belong to the same group of plants as the buttercup and can be a mild irritant to the skin if picked, perhaps this has helped them survive so long?

Walking with Ted

As I have enjoyed visiting my guests' blogs and glimpsing everyday life in countries near and far, I thought you might like to join Ted and I on our morning walk. You will need your Wellington boots and a winter coat today as it's a bit chilly and damp under foot.

Within a stone's throw of our door lies a couple of fields of fallow land. The path you see in the photograph has been fashioned by feet; dogs, people, rabbits and foxes have all helped to keep the path closely cropped. The middle of the path is mainly grass and tiny clover leaves, on the margin the plants grow longer and more luxuriant; buttercups, clovers, vetches give way to ox-eye daisies, ragwort, thistles and grasses Every day is different, the fields team with life as the wild and diverse plant species attract many varieties of birds, animals and butterflies. The path reminds me of an embroidery and the field - a firework display, in the sense that one beautiful display is replaced by another spectacle throughout the year.

We often see toads and frogs, not today - we found huge, black slugs enjoying the damp grass. On the bindweed tiny banded snails clung onto the tendrils and leaves. One summer Ted came across a grass snake and adders have been spotted near the stream.

I don't normally take my camera with me which is just as well, everywhere I look there is something wonderful to photograph, very distracting and time consuming when there is work to be done!