Early Poppies

A very cold southerly wind was blowing this morning. As someone said, it was a “Lazy Wind” in that it blew straight through people. So in spite of the sunshine I rugged up well for our dog walk.
The Californian Poppies are just starting to flower. Some folk call them “four o’clockers” as the flowers close up their petals in the late afternoon. They do not open them up to full display until well after the sun comes out the following day.
I found this clump of poppies on top of a pile of stones near the river. Although they are generally a bright orange in colour some of the ones that are a little in the shade in this image have taken on more reddish tone. Never-the-less, even though they are classified as weeds, I think they are beautiful…. so bright and cheerful on a partly cloudy day.