It must be love, love, love

I came across these two love birds, or rather, love snails, yesterday in my log store. To my astonishment they are still at it today! I sincerely hope they are not trying to to kill each other or overdo the 'lurv' thing. I picked them up and they didn't move. I think they are out of it. In some sort of love coma. Or maybe they did overdo it and now at the pearly gates, arriving as Siamese twins. St. Peter has seen it all, I tell you.  I have no idea!

No crude jokes, please.

Day 4 and the love fest is finally over. Imagine my surprise to see them still alive this morning! The distance between them is striking but why are they not moving?

Photo copyright SvD.

Things I saw in the woods today, part 28

The flowers of the wild garlic mustard have turned to pods, each containing dozens of seeds. The pods will dry on the plant and by the autumn will be ready to be harvested and their precious cargo disgorged.

Garlic mustard

Our rare sun lands on a daisy and it becomes positively blinding. The daisy is a favourite flower for many and it's not hard to see why."He loves me, he loves me not..."

Daisy boo

These are cheats: the honeysuckle was on the way to the woods and so too was this beautiful purple rose- the first rose of  the season. Roses traditionally flower in mid-May so you can see we are clearly more than a few weeks late! Neither of these lovely flowers is wild but I hope you will enjoy looking at them. The honeysuckle smelled so sweet although when I inhaled, a few insects made their way up my nose too....The rose is surely a briar rose and the colour is quite unusual and not one I have seen before.

Honeysuckle

Purple rose

Photos copyright SvD.

Your happy memories 06/16 | Blog Talk Radio

Toutes les passions s'eteignent avec l'age; l'amour propre ne meurt jamais. All the passions are extinguished with old age; self-love dies never. - Voltaire. Love and other myths. Tomorrow on: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/howtobehappy/2013/06/16/your-happy-memories …


Your happy memories 06/16 | Blog Talk Radio

Things I saw in the woods today, part 27

Human beings have an incredible ability to convince themselves of anything. It is all the rage for totally rational people to be allergic to everything these days, not least themselves. And the most unhealthy and overweight frequently ignore their own reality. The body is made up of 'pipes' which need to be cleaned out. Quite simply, if we don't move enough, the pipes get clogged up. The outcome of not moving sufficiently and remaining in a state of inertia (mentally, physically and metaphorically speaking) is usually this:

Gathering moss

A strange formation on the raised root of an old beech tree. Looks weird!

I have never seen so many seeds as this literally carpeting the ground in the woods.

Photos copyright SvD.

Things I saw in the woods today, part 26

I first purchased a book about European trees maybe 15 years ago. Every tree is different with a distinct personality. My favourite tree is possibly the oak: strong, rugged, mysterious and ancient. Oaks line our country lanes and stand as sentinels, watching over us. The oak is a powerful-looking tree, say, compared to the ash which is more wispy and delicate to look at. The silver birch is quite fragile and has an annoying habit of rotting from within- no wonder it is the emblem of a certain political party here in the UK. The yew is another historical tree and one that can live for literally thousands of  years. The yew is traditionally planted in cemeteries in this country as it symbolises everlasting life, immortality, and rebirth. The yew's history is also very dark as its leaves and berries are deadly poisonous.The barks of all these trees are distinct and speak their own language. Have a look and see what I mean.

Ash

Scots fir

Silver birch

Yew

Photos copyright SvD.

The love of my life...

...is quite simply France. No words, no explanations, no eloquent speech about how much the language, culture and place speaks to my heart.

Just a photo of some irises growing along the roadside.

Says everything, really,

Photo copyright SvD.

You make me feel like dancing....

Here's a Canada Goose getting all excited at seeing me. In France.

Photo copyright SvD.