Spring Trip from Hertfordshire to Oxfordshire

It is a bright and beautiful morning, the temperature is eighteen degrees celsius and a pair of pheasants are settled on the lawn, they make a pretty pair especially the male with the sun reflecting his bright coppery chest feathers.

We are on our way from Hertfordshire to Oxfordshire, the hedges, edges and verges are so much more verdant than a few weeks ago when we travelled this way.

The catkins which brought me so much pleasure have long since forsaken the hazel bushes, in their place are fresh green leaves. The verges are adorned with spring flowers, daffodils; primroses; celandines; huge dark leaved bushes of bright yellow broom and oil seed rape.

There is a stretch of the M25 five miles before the St. Albans turning, where whichever side of the car your eyes gaze from, the view is stunning. Gently undulating fields with their  freshly green  hedged boundaries stretch away for mile upon mile, and just for a few moments you could be forgiven for thinking it is Devon or Yorkshire that the road is cutting through.

The trees many of which are still undressed and in their skeletal state are impressive and make wonderful statements as they stand tall on the verges and in the fields either side of the motorway. Those showing new growth now are looking very pretty in their fresh greenery, other trees are still bereft of leaves but covered in blossom. Their finery reminds me of spring brides on their way to church.

The M40 verges are quite spectacular at this time of year, there are seemingly endless miles of bushes and trees in white blossom, interspersed with bright yellow broom. Between the carriageways on the central reservation, underneath the barrier, is a ground covering plant it stretches for a long distance and lifts what is otherwise a drab area. Unfortunately try as I might, I am unable to identify it, as I cannot see individual plants well enough to do so.

Nearing our destination we pass a rookery, the nests are high in the topmost branches of very tall trees, with more rooks in attendance than I have ever seen before. We pass fields of sheep and their fresh young lambs one of spring times delights. They remind me of Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, where it is possible not only to see fields of sheep with their young, but also to walk amongst them and to watch the lambs playing chase and frisking and frollicking all around as you walk through them.

The beautiful yellow Brimstone butterflies are out in force now that the warmer weather is here, we have even seen them fluttering across the motorway today.

We are driving through red kite territory, five are circling overhead and the village we are driving through has many honey coloured stone buildings, which are very pleasing to the eye. Their gardens are full of flowers in bloom making the whole scene magically picturesque.

Previously flooded roads are now dry and their verges adorned with daffodils. All in all a very enjoyable ride through the pretty English countryside in spring.

While in Oxfordshire we spent time in the peaceful grounds of a retreat, which were open to the public.

Spring weather, garden birds, ducks, pheasants and a fishless pond

Again we have a beautiful day, there is a cloudless blue sky and it is mild and sunny. There is a breeze which keeps the temperature down, but even so it is seventeen degrees celsius.

The garden is alive with birds, the roof ducks are back and each morning they fly in, wait by the patio window or under the side kitchen window to be fed. After feeding they go to the pond to drink and swim and then up to the roof, where they spend all day, only coming down to feed and visit the pond.

The pheasants are always around the garden, the male is constantly standing on tiptoe, stretching his neck, flapping his wings and squawking at the top of his voice, I guess this is a show of male dominance, although the female pheasants take no notice of him when he does this.

Blue tits and great tits are nesting in the boxes, a trio of dunnocks are flirtatiously chasing each other, the long tailed tits are busy collecting the mossy growth from the trunk of the old bendy apple tree. There are so many chaffinches, more this year than ever before, and the bullfinches are back --- a sure sign of spring.

Unfortunately the heron has emptied the pond of fish, we said last year that if this happened again we wouldn't restock, however we miss the fish and have decided to go and buy some more.

East Hertfordshire to Papworth, Cambridgeshire

Our senses are assailed by so much white blossom on bare branches, but even this is not as white as the frost on the fields.

Two crows sit basking in the early morning sunlight, high on the topmost branches of tall bare trees in the middle of a roundabout.

Along the verges bright white trunks on birch trees stand out from the conifers and the dark green lichen covered bare branches of other trees.

Dark brown teasels stand high and firm above creamy, golden grasses both left over remnants of last autumn.

I have just seen my first hawthorn decked out in fresh, bright green new leaves.

The numerous brown green and yellow catkins which have given us so much pleasure, have now been superceded by pussy willow, some silver in colour, smooth and sleek to touch, others are large powder puffs of pollen, ready to explode at the nearest touch.

We pass newly ploughed fields with their ridges and furrows and many flat fields covered in light, green new growth.

On some left hand verges and field edges there is still a covering of frost, and road edges have shallow rivers of flood water, still gently moving along

Past Arrington we see a fine old oak, prostrate on the verge and I wonder if it would still be standing if it weren't so heavily cloaked in ivy. Many old oaks on this journey are in this condition and I wonder if they would be stronger and survive longer if the ivy were to be removed.

To Papworth Hospital today for a procedure, I am seen by two more of the very fine Doctors at this Hospital, Dr. Alex Wilkinson and Dr. Lydia Mariner. All the staff here are exactly as one would expect people working in the caring profession to be.