Saturday June 1st. Possibly our last visit to Sunny Bottom to feed our donkeys before the big move.
Sunday June 2nd. Our final visit to St Aidens on a blue-sky summers day, peaceful and uncrowded. Actually see a Bittern in flight, albeit very blurred. Lots of Common Tern fishing and feeding, and Blue-tailed damselfly mating in the reeds.
Thursday June 6th. A great lunchtime with the grandchildren at the Greyhound pub, the venue for so many Saturdays in times gone by; followed by a visit to the ice cream parlour to feed chickens and see the donkeys. So many memories!
Friday June 7th Maybe our final morning walk along the canal at Apperley bridge. In Pudsey Park in the afternoon there’s a lady in red, and dappled sunlight on the old railway walk as the Cow Parsley borders go over.
Sunday June 9th. Garden Cistus showers the lawn in white and on the canal the “troublemaker” ducks entertain!
Monday June 10th. An emotionally pleasant visit to Lee’s place of rest, taking flowers from our garden to brighten his field. Stay peaceful dear Lee in your quiet corner of Menston.
In the early evening Charlotte brings Belle for her last play in Rosemont Villas garden. So lovely to see them both, though I get a bit tearful saying goodbye but so good that they can come to visit us in Brewood in July.
Tuesday June 11th. A very pleasant evening with Dave and Krystal before our move in two days time.
Thursday June 13th. The big move day! Say farewell to Rosemont Villas after 18 eventful years, raising two grandchildren, and goodness knows how many chickens….so many memories.
Friday June 14th. Our first Brewood walk along the canal, feeding new ducks and seeing a tiny vole, before a gentle stroll around this lovely village. Even a heavy rain shower doesn’t dim our spirits. Today was the big move in to our new house. So happy to be here!
Sunday June 16th. On a beautiful June day we find a circular walk from the house discovering the insect rich Barnfield Sandbeds. No traffic noise: just birdsong, church bells and families of ducks to share the kibble! Kindling 1953 childhood memories of quiet Worcestershire paths and hedgerows.
“Memories recalled in a dream like haze, of safe days with Mom as a child. Those sunbeams over that bungalow bed, that June, that beautiful dawn, seeing my very first Wren. And remember that farm where we stayed? With wild geese and hens and real farmyard smells?
Mom held my hand, that day when we walked, down a Worcestershire hideaway lane; a shadowy, leafy lane by green cornfields that swayed in the breeze. I was 4 when we walked, hands held in silence”
On our return, sit and relax in our new gardens, watching bees and sparrows, house martins and swifts in a glorious summer sky.
Monday June 17th. Our first walk to Belvide bird reserve from the house, though no time to visit the hides. See Woodpeckers and a great number of Blue and Great tits. The quiet, tall hedged lanes are a delight to walk, and pass a farmyard with a smell just like the farm I stayed on as a child in the 1950’s. At home the Wood pigeons are so loud!
Tuesday June 18th. Our short circuit, to the sandbeds and down Barn lane to the bridge and back home via the canal, seeing pretty wild flowers and a song thrush. And lovely Oak trees.
Wednesday June 19th. Explore Barnfield Sandbeds, finding a pond, seeing a hare, and take a route through cornfields towards huge hedges; another local walk in prospect. So wonderfully peaceful and once again evocative of my childhood in the midlands.
Thursday 20th June. Find a Scarlet Tiger Moth near our garage, and given the total absence of butterflies so far since we moved to the Midlands, this was most welcome! Also see my first Four-spotted Chaser near the pond on Barn Lane.
A Brewood sunset from our new Staffordshire home on the eve of the Solstice at 1015pm.
Friday June 21st. On the longest day of the year, I finally see a butterfly in Brewood, at Barnfield sandbanks. Another classic June day, with the countryside at its peak. Back home, the Sparrows and Starlings are feasting madly on my feeders!
Saturday June 22nd. See the ‘cheese boat’ on the canal and then find the pond in the sandbanks, eventually. It’s a real maze!
Early evening apero at the Oakley Arms, bathed in light. The Toulouse geese looked imperious outside their island house, soaking up the sun.
Sunday June 23rd. First Banded Demoiselle I’ve seen in Brewood, and one more (pristine) Ringlet butterfly. The Oak in the field near Barn Lane looked splendid in the June heat.
Monday June 24th. A visit to Harborne in B’ham for a drink in the Bell, a favourite pub of Dad’s, before a quick drive past Paganel Road, my old junior school. Then an emotive reunion with Corn Mill Close, Senneleys Park and the old Mill house. 65 years ago I played in that park as a child, chasing swallows and playing footie, and learning how to play cricket with brother Rob, using the trunk of that old Oak tree for a wicket.
Tuesday June 25th. As a heatwave lifts temperatures into the high 20’s, we walk early on the Shropshire Union, admiring the reflections and tranquility beyond the canal bridge. Back home the Californian poppies radiate orange on the front drive.
Wednesday June 26th. The heatwave continues. Early on the canal, see a female Banded Demoiselle and perched Swallows, whilst back home the House Martins feed their young, and a Starling stands proudly. And Blackbirds feast on seed by the bird table.
Thursday June 27th. Walk yet more of the Shropshire Union, seeing several more Ringlet and one Red Admiral in the garden later. Nice Betony flowers in the wild flower triangle of the Sandbeds.
Saturday June 29th. A visit to Penkridge market, delighting in Villa merchandise, then a walk on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, seeing a pristine Comma butterfly and lots of Meadowsweet. Pass an M&B pub, bringing back memories.
Best 12 June 2024
