<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>When OH discovered that the forecast for the first week of Wimbledon was good he decided it was a great week for a break. Could I find anything on-line? Now we do not do "abroad" so it was the UK I was confined to. We do hotels for short breaks but for longer times we prefer the freedom of self-catering.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>It was the Wednesday he first mooted the idea and by next morning he had pencilled in ideas on a list of ideal locations. These boiled down to&nbsp; Northumberland, Norfolk /Suffolk, Herefordshire and Essex. I emailed a number of possible owners of suitable properties and awaited replies - did I mention this was Friday lunchtime by now? Miraculously we had seven out of ten replied -&nbsp;but only two had a vacancy. Still, we only needed one cottage and so we spent the last week in North Devon. Yes, I know it wasn't on the famous list but this year just everyone is holidaying in the UK - and given recent weather why not?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>You will note I mentioned this was a self-catering break. When the children were small I always packed all the food for the week to ensure their favourites were available but recently we have been happy enough to pick things up locally as and when as it were. But the big decision to travel was arrived at after the weekly shop so this meant taking all the fresh food we had bought with us and catering accordingly. Surprisingly we coped and came back with very little. We had some unusual meal combinations perhaps but they added to the fun.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I took plenty of photos, of course. Just when did I manage to spread from the maximum of three reels of 36 exposures for a week long holiday to taking over six hundred digital images - many of them hopefully to find their way into print along with the ideas they spawned. We have met some very friendly and helpful people over the week who have not batted an eyelid when we asked to move a mobile display from their doorway&nbsp;- but have been keen to ask afterwards why I wanted it done. The answer, of course, was to photograph the decorative tiled doorway or the inscription in one if it included the name of the shop. Tiles is an area I have photographed for several years and these have included church tiles, tiled doorways and shop fronts and tiled pubs. In Devon we were able to add tiled street names to our collection, each letter on a separate tile. As soon as people realised what we were photographing they were keen to point out more so our short walks around towns and villages often became quite lengthy treks.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Devon lanes have often vertical sides and except on major routes the dreaded verge trimming seems almost unknown. We travelled lanes near our cottage where the hedge touched both sides of the car and the flowers were a delight.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>We had a great time, met some lovely people and saw many things for the first time but I have to say I do hope next time we are going away I get a bit more notice. Last minute hotel breaks are fine - just throw in a few clothes and a toothbrush and everything else is catered for - but, much as I enjoy self-catering, it does take planning to be really relaxing!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>

<p>By rights I should hate this time of year and especially the plants that choose to flower at this time as I suffer from hay fever and grass and tree pollens are the chief culprits. However, I find the colour of our wayside verges a very uplifting sight.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Although the spread of motorways and dual carriageways have lead to large swathes of the countryside being lost the verges offer a sanctuary for many of our wild flowers in particular. There have been&nbsp; planting programmes to reintroduce such species as cowslips but others are quite capable of colonising any disturbed patches of earth by themselves, the most successful probably being the poppy. In spring the motorways are often brightened by cowslips and primroses followed around May/June time by the large white Marguerite daisies and then the red of the poppies. The seeds can lay dormant for decades resulting in a fresh flush of colour any time the soil is disturbed. My mother once paid a gardener to clear her back garden and use a weed killer before seeding the area for a lawn. The following year she had a traditional hay meadow rather than a lawn with the poppy the dominant feature. She just would not believe he had used the weed killer as she had requested. She had a great display of butterflies that year too.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In May on our country roads here in the south the cow parsley fringes the roadside with its delicate lace-like flower often called Queen Anne's lace. After this come the buttercups and red and white clover. In Dorset last week we were struck by the large number of foxgloves and red campion that together with the buttercups gave a really colourful display. This time last year we were in Cornwall and we saw similar species in bloom there at this time.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Soon though, in our area, the edges will be cut back, the roadside mown for traffic safety. In fact this could be achieved by simply cutting the extreme edge and a wider spread at corners and junctions but although an experiment trialling this happened locally one year we seem back to the wholesale destruction again now.</p>

<p>&nbsp;As we drove to our nearest town to shop this morning I spotted a number of sections of the roadside that had burst into colour as the latest wild flowers reached their flowering season. I noted the locations of especially good patches of meadow sweet, red and white clover and hogweed and aimed to pop back and take some photos later today. Ideal day for photography as it is dry but not sunny.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The roadside has become much more colourful over the past week with yellow of silverweed and lady's bedstraw mixing nicely with vivid displays of blue meadow cranesbill, the wild equivalent of your garden geraniums. The hedges themselves are now dripping with elderflower heads, all creamy white with the more delicate dog roses between. It was an uplifting sight.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Groceries replenished we made the return journey and we were soon stuck behind a tractor. You've guessed it. The verge was being given another trim and all the flowers were being decapitated once more. My only consolation is that flowers, unlike animals, survive this treatment and live to give another show later in the year.</p>

<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning /> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas /> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:SnapToGridInCell /> <w:WrapTextWithPunct /> <w:UseAsianBreakRules /> <w:DontGrowAutofit /> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--></p> <p>I know the weather had to break sometime but the sunshine of the past week has really lifted the spirits and the change in the countryside has been almost visible in its speed. I always think of the predominant colour as being yellow or golden at this time although the bank of wood anemones, with their white petals and soft pink blush on the underside, is looking pretty good too along our road.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The gardens have their daffodils but the roadside verges sport lesser celandine, dandelion and groundsel whilst the woodland areas have their primroses and even the motorway banks have displays of cowslips, planted when the road opened over twenty years ago and now well established. Cowslips used to be common in the countryside but they suffered a massive decline and the planting of these patches along stretches of road have done much to bring them back. I recall a talk given by Molly Harris, Martha of The Archers, when she discussed the making of cowslip wine by villagers in the past. I suspect it is the use of herbicides and loss of farming land to building rather than over-zealous production of wine that lead to their decline though. Dandelions and groundsel are, of course, considered weeds when growing in the wrong place and I suspect the local cricket team will need to mow their outfield pretty soon if the dandelions pictured are to be conquered. Meanwhile, they give a lovely glow of colour.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In the garden we have seen lots of butterflies including the buttery yellow Brimstone with its pale green underside to the wings,&nbsp; and the hedgerows are full of yellow hammers this year, a bird we have seen much less in recent years so hopefully this indicates a boost in their numbers. It has been good to work in the garden, dry the washing with ease out of doors and generally enjoy the warm glow of spring sunshine.</p>

<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning /> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas /> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:SnapToGridInCell /> <w:WrapTextWithPunct /> <w:UseAsianBreakRules /> <w:DontGrowAutofit /> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--></p> <p>Just a short while ago everywhere you looked the verges and gardens were filled with golden yellow from daffodils and primroses to celandines and dandelions and many other lesser known species too. Last Thursday, in pursuit of a bluebell wood to photograph, we took a short drive and found a patch of hedgerow no longer than a hundred yards that carried over a dozen species. This bordered the bluebell wood that was already carpeted in blue and looking superb in the dappled sunlight. However, although there were many golden species still in bloom the predominance was now for white.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The hawthorn (May) blossom was already in full flower and blackthorn flowers still added to the backdrop. Cow parsley was raising delicate stems with white umbels of flowers giving rise to their popular name of Queen Anne's lace and stitchwort and chickweed added their starry forms to the many shapes and sizes on show. Perhaps the overwhelming display was of Ransoms (wild garlic) and here it was in direct competition to the bluebells for scent and was sadly winning.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span>If this had been the border in the garden of some stately home it could not have offered more variety of colour and leaf form and there was no denying that all blended together perfectly. No need for&nbsp;garden designers to work their magic. Nature has done it all before.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The recent sunshine has certainly lead to many flowers blooming before their usual time. It has also meant that many have bloomed for only a short period, too. Oxfordshire is home to some of the few remaining fields of wild snake's head fritillaries. One village holds an annual open day at this time and this year that was the Sunday before Easter. By mid week people hoping to see this wonderful spectacle were reduced to searching for scattered specimens across the meadow. They had bloomed, set seed and died in the space of a week.</p> <p>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning /> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas /> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:SnapToGridInCell /> <w:WrapTextWithPunct /> <w:UseAsianBreakRules /> <w:DontGrowAutofit /> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>