Two Coombe Wood walks and lunch

1st walk - Thursday 17th March

There was an orange cone and some branches creating a barrier next to the mesh gate by the pond, as well as quite a few footprints in the soil the other side of the gate. I later found out from the gardener that someone had broken the gate.

Star-like blue flowers -  open wide and enjoying the sunshine

Tiny buds

There are an amazing amount of buds on this plant - I'm not sure I've seen this many on it before

 Crocus wide open in the sun

Pollen dotted on the petals - there were quite a lot of bees around on that sunny morning

The starry flowers that were still in the shade were still tightly shut

Little blue buds

The sunshine had encouraged several huge bumble bees to come and gather nectar

There are so many slightly different kinds of magnolias - all at different stages.

A sunbathing cat

 Bumble bee in a crocus

 Where's it going?

Woops!

Sunlight through red leaves

These waxy bells fascinate me - almost invisible to me from a distance, they're developing fast now

Another kind of bud - a tight cluster of new growth about to burst open

Magnolias delicately tinged with pink - lovely against the blue sky

Breaking the rules - taking photos towards the sun

Slender white magnolias

Camelia bud opening

I was still trying to find out if these were pods or buds

There aren't nearly as many on the tree now so I searched on the ground underneath and found a pod

Sunlit rhododendrons

The Australian pine tree is looking healthier now with more new growth at the tips of the branches

Magnolia flowers - these remind me of a candelabra

The sunshine on the witch hazel flowers seemed to have completely changed their colour

Sunlight through hellebores

I like the way these new green leaves curl

On bare branches next to last year's dried brown leftovers  clusters of pink trumpet like flowers are emerging

It looked a little misty in the distance and there was a faint scent of bonfire smoke but I didn't find out where it was coming from.

 A thin smoky mist hung in the air around the steps too

Sunlight illuminating each leafy bud among the old beech nuts

 A bank of hellebores. Bees purposefully swooped underneath the bowed flower heads making them bob around

Pink tinged buds that will become scented yellow azaleas poke up above the old seed pods from last year's flowers

New growth on slender stems - this might be a beech branch with its buds catching the sunlight

Sometimes people put things in the hole in the trunk of the big beech tree. In the past I've found flowers, pine cones, small toys, an easter egg. etc. On Thursday there were two egg shaped white stones perched in there

More buds - each one a promise of new life to come

A little bug like a dark ladybird, on a wide open crocus

A bee misjudging the entrance to a crocus

That' s better

I love the way the sun shines through things, changing the colours and casting interesting shadows

Crazy euphorbia middles like crabs claws - and just when I thought I'd seen everything it was going to do I noticed something else - little antennae-like triple anthered stamens

A clump of bulrush seeds floating on the pond

A close up of the pod I found - it really does look like rusty metal

2nd walk - Friday 18th March 

A walk with a friend.

The gardener had mended the gate next to the pond. My friend noticed that the guneras by the pond are just beginning to show their new green shoots

Red leaves with green veins 

It was cloudy today and the temperature had dropped. quite a bit since yesterday. These flowers were attracting bumble bees yesterday but there wasn't a bee in sight today.

I have been finding these little white flowers very challenging to photograph. The buds expand like little balloons until finally you can see the petals separating

We caught sight of the gardener in the distance spreading manure (the aroma was reaching us) on the wide borders beside the lawn

After our enjoyable walk my friend and I had a wonderful lunch in the Coach House Cafe The food there is delicious and so attractively presented and the staff are lovely.

Thank you very much for joining me