Beautiful bluebells...

Today has been one of those 'just lovely' days. On a whim last night a friend and I decided to go to some woods a few miles away, famed for their bluebells. One of the ridiculous things about life seems to be that you rarely visit the beautiful places under your nose. I must have driven past the signs to Foxley Wood hundreds of times but have never actually visited before. The forecast last night was a bit mixed but we woke up to bright sunshine, the lightest breeze and a real bit of warmth in the air.

I have to confess, for the first few minutes of the walk I was just a teeny bit disappointed and we wondered if we were a bit early for the bluebells, but it is very beautiful ancient woodland and the birds were singing so we just decided to make the most of it. Then...our first glimpse of the bluebells...

So delicate and pretty in the sunlight...

It was pretty damp underfoot and everything seemed so fresh and bright. I love this moss...

and the light through the trees which are still getting their leaves...

...these dainty violas...

...and, oh my goodness, the bluebells...

Its fair to say, I may have gone slightly mad with the camera, so feel free to look away now if you are about bluebell'd out but they were really lovely...

A few other things caught my eye too; this fern about to unfurl...

...my first bumblebee of the year, dozy on bluebell nectar...

...and some pretty red campion (I think!) in amongst the blue...

When we were almost back to the starting point we came across this sign which made us smile; who knew bluebells were such sensitive souls?! And why just these we wondered?! 

We tiptoed quietly back to the car... Foxley Wood, beautiful.

S x

walking off the blues...

I have learnt a lesson this week. My iphone doesn't much like taking photos in poor light!!

I think I must be losing the plot slightly, as I always have my camera with me...only this week I didn't. Twice. Hence the following fuzzy photos.

The Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2012 continues and on Wednesday evening I went to see Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal playing kora and cello in St Peter Mancroft church...

This is a beautiful church in the centre of Norwich and looked lovely as the daylight was fading. I didn't feel I could even attempt a photo inside the building but the concert was held by candlelight and the sound was absolutely stunning. The cello produced a rich, strong tone contrasted by the delicate music of the kora. I had never heard the kora before - the nearest I can describe it is a bit like the sound of a harp, but West African in origin. Really beautiful.

My other fuzzy photos come from a long walk on Friday evening. This was a bit of a stomp initially to be honest. I'd had a bit of a week at work, and got home at 7.30pm to find a letter from the council with a parking fine! The road I live on is permit holders only - I have paid for the permit but it appears that there are some bits of the road that even with a permit you can't stay for longer than 2 hours. The frustrating thing is that there is nothing either on the road signs or on the information that came with the permit - and I have parked in virtually the same spot on numerous occasions in the five months I've been living here. I think I'd have just put it down to experience if it had happened in the first couple of weeks but its very irritating now!

Anyway, I decided to walk my huff off and took off in the direction of the university and then on past to the woods where the bluebells were just beginning to show a few weeks ago. They are not as prolific as those in the woods near where I used to live but they were very pretty all the same...

These photos don't really do it justice - it was probably about 8.30pm by then with the light fading fast but the blue haze was lovely...

Not sure the walk entirely fixed my mood - by the time I got home again it was dark and raining! But I did enjoy the bluebells.

Sx

Can't quite get my head round the weather we are having at the moment! When I left work at 2pm today the temperature was registering 27C! Its more like midsummer than end of April. I hope the poor plants don't go into complete shock when we get the inevitable drop back to 'normal' temperatures - which I'm sure it will at some point!

I went for a lovely bike ride this afternoon - I am trying to finally kick my new years promise to myself in to touch and get a bit fitter! Probably would be more effective if I left the camera at home as I couldn't help keep stopping to take photos - I guess I need to cycle for long enough to get out of breath ideally...

I wasn't very far down the road before I saw this splash of bright red on the verge - poppies in April? Really?

I was heading for this little wood near us which always has the most beautiful bluebells. It was about 5.30pm by the time I got there, still warm and sunny with the trees giving dappled shade. The air was filled with the scent from the bluebells - I hadn't really realised they had so much fragrance but the early evening seems to bring it out. 

It was just really peaceful and lovely to just sit for a bit before cycling home... and I'm sure the last long hill did me loads of good!!!

This pretty little church is tucked away on one of the back lanes and in the churchyard I spotted this little narcissus...

Spring flowers still around after all! Lovely.

Til next time then, 

Sx