May flowers and skylarks

I went for a walk just before 7pm - letting the heat of the day dissipate a little now that it doesn't feel like thunder.

I'm still having "issues" with my energy levels: my 15-minute walk is taking half an hour, and my 25-minute walk took an hour. BUT, looking on the positive side, I did go so I feel that that's progress (of a sort).

I enjoyed myself, as I tend to do, and really appreciated seeing the countryside bursting into life, and the wildlife.

The same valley I walked along yesterday in full sun, was today in still shade and the smell of the may flowers [hawthorn] was overpowering; they really are aromatic. The flowers here are very white [almost as brilliant white as the blackthorn], whereas I remember them as being a more creamy shade.

Either I'm misremembering, or they are a slightly different variety here? I'm sure the sloes are different: I've picked kilos of them without getting pricked, and I don't recall that as an 'option' with English sloes!

Along with the may, there was a bush or two of late-flowering blackthorn, and a carpet of wild strawberries; very 'wedding bouquet'.

As well as the flora making my walk a richer experience, the fauna were also putting on a spectacle for me...

A buzzard was lazily riding the thermals close to the ground above a hay meadow, with the occasional drop to the ground; I never saw him catch anything, but I loved watching him try.

A pair of partridge took off at my approach, as did a skylark, who sang his way out of sight.

"Couples" is very much a theme at the moment: the lizards outside the kitchen door have been flirting shamelessly, and I even saw a pair of flies dancing round each other [but that thought I didn't enjoy!]. Lizard 'kiss chase' is fun to watch, as is the tail-shaking 'come and get me' signal that precedes it, with them covering a surprising amount of ground at speed.

The swallows, redstarts and spuggies are all looking for nest materials/sites so I'm valiantly fending off advances from the birds who think this house would make a nice home; it does, chaps, but just not for you!

I'm slightly delaying my "nesting" until the workmen have finished!