Spring is sprung

"If not for you
winter would have no spring
I couldn't hear the robin sing
I's be sad and blue
If not for you."

Bob Dylan's song goes a bit down hill after that
If you are going to have the sky fall then a little bit of rain with it (rain would gather too)is not much of an add on.

Indeed, we really need that rain. It has been gathered in clouds all last week, but none of them was dropping more than a few spots.

This week the weather is wonderful. I was out in the valley for three hours yesterday and came home with sunburn on my face.

I thought I would share some of the signs of spring arriving. This one arrived last week, early, as most things are as global warming steps up.


I love the little white flowers of the blackthorn, which arrive before the leaves open.

I haven't seen the amazing cherry trees on the way into Oxford this year.
We have just a few locally. This made a great macro, I thought.

The sheep are lambing, the farmer told me. He did not want Sophie in the field with them. They are in a field away from the public footpath area now. It is the grazing which makes the valley so sweet and grassy, rather than the scrub elsewhere. It is on the edge of overgrazing now though. You can hardly avoid stepping in the shit.

I noticed a happy connection between man and nature that is accidental. In one field all the willows have been pollarded. Some have also been burned, for some reason. This one turned the tree into something of a work of art






Before I forget, let me add a link to my new nature blogger's network http://uknhb.blogspot.co.uk/


Why do people pollard? I have read excuses about conservation and supporting healthy tree life. i don't buy it. Crack willows are meant to crack.Do we want trees to look manicured like bushes in a park? I don't.

Have a look at these. It is all part of the charm of the secluded valley that the trees crack and fall as nature intended.




Some people worry about floods. The Charlbury bridge parapet was washed away in the last big flood and a vast amount of debris went off down river. Rothermere has destroyed many beautiful trees that used to line the river, doubtless with the excuse that trees can block the flow of water.

Much of the magic of his part of Wychwood has been damaged if not destroyed by this tidying up.

The secluded valley has been so far protected from this degradation.

Thank Ostra for that