COLOURFUL COOMBE WOOD WALK WITH A FRIEND

This old seed head is looking quite ragged now. It looks different each time in the ever changing light.

Looking closer at these tiny orange flowers on magenta stems

Dwarf tulips

Getting really close to the tiny white blossom

Magnolia tree thick with buds

Bright blue stars

Delicate pink tinged pastel green flowers

These translucent bells have opened a little more - look how neat the scalloped edges of the bells are

 Five days ago these were little yellow tubes hanging from the branches

Colour contrasts

Heather

Pale leaves with a rosy blush

Crazy flowers developing

Daily mini drawings
I've been playing with the layout. Here's January and February.
March to follow very soon.

Thank you very much for joining me

SUNSHINE AND SHOWERS

I was meeting a friend at Coombe Wood yesterday afternoon but decided to go earlier for a leisurely stroll first, armed with a large umbrella - which came in very useful. 

Figs

These are tiny and very easy to miss but the sun was shining through them lighting them up beautifully yesterday as I walked past them

Daffodils bowed down with the weight of the rain

The gardener has transplanted some of the snowdrops that have finished flowering now, alongside the path near the archway, and has also rotavated the ground joining what were the three poppy beds last year, to make them into one long bed which will be filled with wild flowers.

New growth on Korean pine

The last of the old Korean pine cones - very little left now

When I've photographed these buds before I thought they were opening into tiny leaves but they are delicate little pastel green flowers.

In a previous post I mentioned that some of the trees were festooned with tiny trails of buds. These trees are now draped with the most delicate tiny translucent bells

Looking up into a cluster of tiny bell shaped flowers

Sometimes I'm a bit frustrated that I keep having to say I don't know what the plants are - but it is also exciting to see what is going to happen next when you have no idea what they are going to turn into.

Little yellow hanging flowers

I do remember that the shoots below will produce amazing red and orange seed pods - but it will be interesting to observe how they get to that stage.

Hellebores still flowering

Soft new green growth among the long thorns

Lovely red new growth and thorns

Between showers - blue sky and the remains of the beech nuts

Teasel (love the curls)

I nearly missed this mass of tiny pink flowers.

 The tulip shoots are showing between the primulas

 Another photo of these crazy green plants

 Some very fleshy burgundy stems with burgundy shoots opening into green frilly leaves.

 The bullrushes look like sticks of candy floss now

 Back home again and the sunshine and showers continue into the evening

Thank you very much for joining me again

CATCHING UP - ECLIPSE DAY

Last Friday on the morning of the eclipse, dense cloud was forecast so I was pretty sure there would be nothing to see in our area. I decided to experience the eclipse as fully as possibly by enjoying a walk in Coombe Wood hoping that if I was outside for the whole of the eclipse I would notice if anything felt any different. It was a very dull morning but as the time for the eclipse approached I walked and took photos as usual, enjoying all the signs of spring. 

Camelia bud - fat fleshy petals about to unfold

It was quite dark up the hill in the woods although my camera compensated for the lack of light.

Bracket fungus

The temperature dropped and it felt like dusk and a bit like it does if it is about to rain. The birds quietened down a little, but not completely.

Bracket fungus

The photo below was taken at roughly the time of maximum eclipse but doesn't show quite how dark it was.

I sat on a bench for a while in the stillness absorbing the very small differences that were taking place but soon I was feeling the cold so I started walking again. The birds were soon singing again and the light returned a little although it was still very grey.

These might be quince buds

I find the middles fascinating

Had these mallard drakes had a disagreement?
I do like the curly black feathers of the mallards just above their white tails

Through the arch there's a glimpse the gardener transplanting some of the snowdrops that have finished flowering.

A cluster of camelia buds on one stem growing so close together that they look like one amazing flower.

Later a friend joined me on my walk. I caught sight of a jay flying into a tree above our heads and just managed to catch a blurry photo through the branches. We weren't even sure it was a jay for a while because it had ruffled its feathers up so much and looked very round.

My kind friend treated me to a very welcome hot drink and some delicious banana, chocolate and treacle cake in the Coach House Cafe.

Soon after getting home again the sun came out. It was a little disappointing not to see the eclipse but I was very glad I had made the effort to be somewhere where I could experience little things about it.

Thank you very much for joining me. I will be back later.