Monday 20 August 2012

Saturday Morning Bike Ride

A murky morning.
Straw bales. I'm heading over to climb the hill behind the village you can see in the distance here.

The usual view, always appreciated whilst puffing up the hill.

Looking a little further to the right (and with some zooming) you can see the field dotted with bales from the first photo.

As I get to the top of the hill I realise I've made a bad route decision...

All is shrouded in wet cloud. It's raining up here.

One tree hill, seen beyond silhouetted rowan branches.

Wet...

Wet...

Wet.

Time to get down from the high ground and away from the clouds.

I stop on the steep descent to watch the swallows.

Always a pleasure.

Umbellifer, seed pods at the ready.

Pretty bend in the road.

Another hill to descend.

Now at the bottom. It's still a bit gloomy but at least it's not actually raining any more. I head over towards the loch; I was there recently with N and know that there are many wildfowers to see just now...

Tansy. (I didn't know what this was, after a quick internet search I do now.)

Droplets on blade of grass.

Knapweed, also sporting pretty rain droplets.

More umbellifers.

The same group but with a different camera angle.

Teasel.

There's quite a big clump of it at the loch this year. I like it and am tempted to plant some in the garden though I understand it can spread easily. Has anyone ever tried growing it? Did it get out of hand?

Solitary swan.

Twisted hawthorn.

Ragwort.

Daisy.

Past the folly on the hill.

Rosebay willowherb.

I'm now on the back roads heading home. Past a cow and her calf.

A last look over the fields.

Home. This little birch leaf falls into my path as a push my bike up to the shed. I like how one side is yellow and the other brown.

I mentioned that N and I had visited the loch recently. Here are some photos. It was a sunnier and drier day, though also quite windy.

 A view of the wildflowers lining the cyclepath.

 Orange beech leaves against green canopy.

 Transport.

 We're in the nature reserve and saw a fair number of different bird species at the feeders.

 Inquisitive duck.

We then stopped at the river for a picnic lunch. It was nice.

I remember being told by teachers never to write "it was nice" as it was lazy and we should make the effort to think of a more descriptive phrase. But it was nice. I shouldn't start a sentence with but either. And and, while I'm at it...

8 comments:

rockinloubylou said...

Nice is a lovely word. And lovely is another word I use far too frequently. Loved the drops of rain on the blade of grass. You do have a sharp eye for beauty.

Gillian Roe said...

Such pretty wildflowers! Are you ever tempted to pick a couple? I love the tansy flowers.

I start lots of sentences with "and", and regularly say "it was nice" because, well, often it was nice. Such silly grammatical rules! x

* said...

I've done the 'And' thing fairly recently, I used to have an English teacher that used to do her capital 'a's as a huge 'a' not an 'A' I thought it was terribly naughty!

Another lovely bike ride despite the wet grey skies, I've heard of tansy, but didn't know that is what it looks like....blogging teaches you a lot! I only wish that blogging burned calories, I'd be in my element. I would like to get out as a family cycling, I've got to say I'm not much cop though. Middle boy is a liability, I will never forget th face of the man who came round the corner on his bike in centerparcs, with my boy hurtling towards him at break neck shouting 'I can't stop!' ....

Claire said...

Beautiful photos Anne and I think murky mornings are the best but then I don't go cycling in them.....
The 'And' thing at the start of the sentence really used to bother me. I thought it was so wrong, but would see it in alot of print. I thought it was just a 'new' thing, but reading books from he 1930's I noticed it in them too!
I must be a slow learner.....

Love all the wild flowers.......I think I might have to make a new tea cosy using some of your pics as a reference.

Hope the skies have cleared and it's nice and blue now.

Claire :}

Rattling On said...

It's been very wet and windy here, trees down and that sort of thing.
The wildflowers this year are amazing, they seem to like the weather! Just bought a vintage (50s/60s) town bike for my eldest to take back to uni. She can now ride to the seaside instead of walking and have more time there!

Simone said...

But it WAS nice!!! A great bike ride yet again. Thank you for naming so many of the wild flowers. I wouldn't have a clue what they were! The Tansy is lovely. I wouldn't even mind it in my garden.

Gerda said...

Wet, and beautiful!! And now I know what murky is. groetjes, Gerda

Mrs. Micawber said...

I do love fields of hay bales. Lots of good wet pics here - the grass blade is stunning and I also really like the one-tree hill.

Something about blogging brings out the less-than-stellar sentence construction that lurks in all of us. And I have no problem with that.

A very nice post. :)

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails