Today is bright and sunny, no wind and a mild feeling. the temperature is seven and a half degrees celsius.
We are on the old A414 and passing flooded fields and swollen rivers which are lost in the flood of the fields.
Turning on to the A10 we soon see on each motorway verge, endless hazel trees, each one festooned gloriously with hanging catkins in varying shades of brown, green and yellow, my favourite being the ones which are the same shade as wild primroses (Primula Vulgaris). Primroses were Disraeli's favourite flower and at his funeral Queen Victoria sent a posy of Primroses with a note which read "His favourite flower, from Osbourne ...".
However I digressed. On the offside bank just before we turn off for the A414, we see several trees uprooted and laying at odd angles. I can only guess that these are a by-product of the mini tornado that passed through this area yesterday.
We are almost in Hertford now and passing more flooded fields with flocks of Canada geese enjoying the water. Leaving Hertford we pass under dark grey storm clouds and into bright sunshine again, the temperature has risen to nine degrees.
We pass Hatfield where there is much standing water around, we have luckily just missed a heavy rainfall but the sky still looks dark and foreboding.
On to the M25, there is dense bush and tree growth along the verges the white trunks and branches of the birch trees stand out very attractively amongst the rest of the brown and green that populate the motorway edges. It is mid- afternoon on a Tuesday and it is surprising how much traffic there is on the motorway, we are also constantly beset by heavy rain showers.
We turn onto the M40, there are again many hazels displaying their eye catching catkins, but also we are delighted to see bright yellow broom in full bloom. We pass a row of dark forbidding looking conifers, they must be a wonderful shelter for birds during this cold and wet winter, when most other trees are bare. Away to the right we spot great balls of mistletoe, suspended from the highest branches of these distant trees. Catkins hanging from hazels festoon the banks at the edges of the M40 and are a constant delight.
We are now approximately twenty-seven miles from Oxford, the sun is shining, the sky is blue with many soft white clouds and everywhere I look appears to be dry.
So many of the trees on the verge of the motorway are swamped by dense growths of ivy, and I wonder if it will be the downfall of them meanwhile it is a good shelter for wildlife. I spot the first red kite of the journey. In places the white seed heads of old man's beard stretch across the tops of bushes and trees, draping themselves and hanging like curtains. As we pass the turning for Stokenchurch we see a second solitary red .kite. On three sides of us we have an amazing view of the countryside, the fields are a rich spring green and stretch away for miles. We pass a slightly flooded field with forty to fifty gulls in the water, while circling above I see three red kites.
We pass fields of sheep happily grazing in the bright sunshine on the rich green grass. Turning off the M40 I watch two birds flying almost together and am fascinated to watch their different styles.The magpie with his fiercely flapping wings is such a contrast to the slow majestic flight of the nearby red kite, with his outspread wings slowly but surely carrying him.
In Little Milton we come upon flooded roads and water spurting up from a drain cover in the road, a lone pigeon sits high above on the telegraph wire, solemnly surveying his world. The sky is very clouded now with banks of clouds in varying shades of grey, many with edges of brightness.
It is 3:30 pm and we are almost at our journey's end, the temperature has dropped to eight degrees.
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