Into July

 Moving gently into July with a few photos of the wildflower beds at Trentham Gardens.

After getting my blood tested at a local clinic ready for my hospital appointment later this week we popped into the gardens for a coffee and a walk around.  The wildflowers are looking wonderful at the moment.  

I'm hoping that the dosage of medication I am taking can be reduced if the results of the blood test are better.  I was diagnosed with PV (Polycythemia Vera) in August last year,  I know I have to take the medication indefinitely but I would like to taker fewer of them if possible.  

A dear friend of our who has pulmonary fibrosis  says he has become a half day person over the last few years and sometimes I feel the same.  Fatigue overtakes me in the afternoons especially in the hot weather.

Anyway, time to get moving as I have that appointment this morning.  We need to leave earlier than normal to allow for road works and also finding parking at the hospital which is usually quite stressful. All for now.

Wild flowers and exhibitions

August is just flying along isn't it? Where do the days go?  We have got gardening done and made some visits locally.  We also visited a lovely exhibition at the Burslem School of Art with friends who came over from Beeston for lunch. There were some wonderful works of art in the Three Counties Exhibition.  The three counties being Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire. 

 I've been struggling health wise and after the bone marrow biopsy I had in April I have been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder caused by a faulty gene so have, over the next few weeks, to start treatment for that.  I had a venesection on Thursday which is the start of the ongoing process. This now explains the blood clot in my leg and the two PEs I had in 2022 and 2023.  I'll try to keep blogging here and there.  I've just noticed that this is my first post for this month. It reminds me of some school reports, usually for maths, when there was always a comment of 'could do better'.

Anyway at the moment I'm looking for things colourful and cheerful and found them at Trentham Gardens where the wild flower meadows are looking wonderful.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves, although they don't do justice to the wonderful sesnsation of being amongst them.

All for now.

Lately....

Lately I've been....

1. Walking

Through the bluebell woods.

They are looking wonderful

I'll write more about our visit and show a lot more photos in my next post.

2. Spotting

Other wildflowers in the bluebell wood including Forget-me-Not, Dandelion, Red Campion, Cowslips and a white flower, possibly Greater Stitchwort, perhaps someone reading this can identify it for me?  

3. Reading

The latest Masie Dobbs novel by Jacqueline Winspear. I always enjoy these novels and the latest one didn't disappoint.  In this book Maisie visits an old friend of her former mentor Maurice Blanche in Mecklenburgh Square, in Bloosmsbury which is the setting of Square Haunting by Francesca Wade.  In this book the author visits the Square during the inter- war years when its inhabitants were some of our literary giants.  She has chosen five women to follow including Virginia Woolf and Dorothy L Sayers.   Pulpit Rock is the latest of the Ben Kitto novels set on The Scilly Isles.  I always race through these as they are an easy read.

4.  Listening

To podcasts and BBC radio programmes  'Life in the Garden' by Penelope Lively read by Stephanie Cole.   'The Stubborn Light of Things' a delightful podcast by nature writer and novelist Melissa Harrison and 'Obsessed with Line of Duty' a podcast by former cast member Craig Parkinson.

5. Watching 

'Line of Duty' and 'Keeping Faith'  'Make Up: A Glamorous History'  and  'The Repair Shop' all on BBC also 'Secrets of the Transport Museum' on Yesterday (Freeview) and Criminal UK on Netflix.  I'm not finding a lot of things I want to watch at the moment as there are a lot of repeat programmes and as much as I've previously enjoyed Poirot, Marple, Vera, Endeavour and Lewis, I've probably watched them two or three times and really  I want to see new programmes but I suspect it will be a while before things get back to normal.  It's not a gripe more an observation.

Today is the last day of April and what a strange month it has been.  Today we've had brilliant sunshine and hailstones.  I had my second Astra Zenica jab on Wednesday and it didn't make me feel as ill as the first one did, so far so good.  I'll be back over the weekend with bluebells.

 

In the Meadow

On Saturday morning we visited the RSPB Reserve at Coombes Valley where we took a gentle meander through the meadow.  

I hadn't been feeling myself for a couple of days after falling in the garden trying to avoid stepping on next door's new puppy!  It had come through the hedge and was racing around our garden like a child in an adventure playground.  

The views across the valley from the steep meadow were wonderful.

The meadow was full of orchids 

Above are Greater Butterfly Orchids below an orchid we are not sure about. Marsh Orchid perhaps?

We also saw lots of little butterflies and moths

Skipper

Chimney sweeper moth

 It was cool and shady to linger awhile under the broad branches of the oak tree

It's good that I was feeling a lot better by the time of our next adventure which had been planned for some time and took us a bit further afield.  We have to plan our days around leaving a very elderly cat with back leg problems who needs lots of attention and medication twice a day.

We managed a round trip of six hours which was a little long to leave him but he coped.  I'll report on our visit in a future post but here is a little taster.

 

Mister Finch at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, two hours to get there, two hours there and two hours to get home but well worth the visit in such hot weather.

More of Mister Finch and two other wonderful exhibitions soon.

Early Morning Walk

Yesterday we were up and out  fairly early in the morning and when we arrived at our usual place to take a walk we were the only people there.

It was so quiet and peaceful under the trees who'd have thought it was the first day of a bank holiday weekend. 

  The woodland birds were singing their little hearts out, pheasants called from nearby fields, buzzards mewled overhead and ducks on the nearby pond sounded as if they were laughing at a coarse joke or two.

 Everything was lush and green.

 Except where it was white.

Lovely dandelion clocks were everywhere all ready for the breeze to catch and distribute their seeds or fairies as we used to call them - in fact still do!

The towpath by the canal was glorious with its soft tones of green and white

 There were many other plants to spot as we walked.  Some of them I can easily identify others I can't without the aid of a reference book.  Where I'm not sure I've put a question mark in brackets.  Any help with identification will be gratefully received.

Yellow Dead Nettle - also Yellow Archangel - thank you Ragged Robin, Mrs Tiggywinkle and John Scurr.

At first I thought 'self heal' but it isn't like the 'self heal' in our garden so now I'm not sure.   Apparently this is called Bugle - thank you John Scurr.

 Wild rhubarb - there must be another name for this but I can't find it.  I assumed the tall flowers were part of the same plant but I'm not sure. I now know that this is butterbur thanks again to John, I think somewhere in the back of my mind I'd found this out before but had completely forgotten.

 Buttercups

 Clover

 Vetch

 Wood Avens

 White Dead Nettle

 Horse Tail 

 growing at the sides of the canal towpath it looks a
very ancient looking plant.

 Ash Keys

Hogweed (?)

Rhododendron

The heat of yesterday was cleared by a storm during the night, at one point loud rain and thunder woke me up.  It is cooler and breezier today and as I type this post the rain has started again.  At least the gardens will benefit from it.