WHAT A JOY...

...to go out after our Church service this morning for a drive, in the sunshine - our first for several weeks, in fact, since well before Christmas. 

We had a good service with some great worship songs and a brilliant sermon about Jonah - but very little mention of the whale - delivered in an easy-to-listen-to and humorous way by Ian, the visiting speaker.  He told us that he had retired at 67 but that God had sent him to a Church in Cheltenham, where he was now - and it was our delight to have him with us this morning.

Mr. HCB and I were on coffee duty this morning, so after we had done our stint we cleared everything away, went to fill up the car with petrol and he then suggested that we went out for a drive - and what a pleasure that was.  We went to our favourite place at Eastridge and found lots of snowdrops, derelict tree stumps, a feather caught on a branch, a squirrel enjoying a nut it had found, lots of buds on trees and some wonderful hedge laying - and I even managed a shot of Mr. HCB leaning on a gate - see my extra collage for some of these shots.   

For those interested in hedge laying - the bottom left shot in my collage - and according to Mr. Google “this is a country skill that has been practised for centuries. Although a well-laid hedge looks beautiful, the original aim was to create a fence to stop sheep, cattle and other stock from straying. Styles of hedges vary across the country but the principles of hedge-laying remain the same. By laying a hedge you not only create a living fence, you also help to encourage new growth, making it an excellent way of regenerating an old, overgrown hedge without replacing it.”  This fence is on the periphery of the Eastridge Estate and was quite long.  What a joy to see these old country skills and not that far from where we live.

We found more snowdrops, further along the road to Crooked Soley, which was a real bonus;  we saw hundreds but I was very careful not to trample them as I took the photographs.  However, as well as some beautiful sights, we were saddened to see lots of fly tipping and rubbish that people had obviously thrown out of their car windows - things like coffee cups, beer cans and the like and wondered why they had to blight the countryside like this - who knows what goes on in their brain?  

We then came back through Baydon and stopped at our favourite spot where I took my main shot, which is part of the North Wessex Downs - which is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and we can see why.  We have sometimes met friends unexpectedly up here in the past, and hoped we might see them today, but they weren’t there - so I sent them one of my photographs to say we were sorry to miss them!

Now I need to get ready to go back to Church for our Worship and Prayer service this evening.  Hope you all have a great week and be encouraged - Spring is definitely on the way - we have seen proof of that today.

“Whatever their names or pedigree, 
     snowdrops were something to look forward to – 
          the earliest and bravest of the brave spring bulbs, 
               defying the winter gloom.”
Margaret Mayhew