We had slices of several varieties to sample the different flavors and textures.  We drank cider fresh from the press.  The King of the Pippins variety, shown above, was the base of the juicing operation.

The walled orchard and kitchen garden also hosted a story teller who told a variation on the story about how the apple got it’s star.  We enjoyed checking out all the scarecrows amongst the vegetables.

The gourds and pumpkins were particularly colorful.  These gourds were trellised over the pathway.

There were some incredible flowers still blooming.  Apparently, the walls were built around the garden to protect the plants from wind by providing a sheltered micro-climate.  I’d always assumed that they were deer protection, but maybe that’s just my New England background?  At any rate, it was very warm and sunny while we visited and the flowers seemed to be thriving.

The kids were inspired by the light and color and took quite a few pictures of the blooms.

We had a picnic lunch, ran into some friends, and played some silly games.

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

We had a nice walk through the estate, hiding in the ferns,

and finally ending up back at the incredible tree that is so suited for climbing.

I found many wonderful flowers lingering among the garden beds.

I’m planning to return sometime to spent some more time inside the house and visit the demonstration flour mill nearby.

This morning River and I set out to find a swimming hole along the River Trent between Swarkestone and Barrow-on-Trent. One of Molly’s co-workers had described how to find the footpath. We managed to make our way through the massive field of six foot tall nettles of which we’d been warned. Along the way, we found these Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) plants, which are in the same genus as Jewelweed. Jewelweed is quite common in Massachusetts and is especially popular with the kids because its seed pods explode when you touch them. Himalayan Balsam behaves in a similar fashion, though unfortunately as you might guess from the name, it is an invasive species in Britain.

We popped quite a few nonetheless.

We did eventually find the swimming hole. There is a channel between the bank and an island where the water is about five feet deep. Just downstream, there is a shallow pebble beach suitable for splashing. A rope swing is attached from an overhanging willow branch and I thoroughly enjoyed splashing into the chilly water.

It was great to find a nearby place to swim, though the weather isn’t often hot enough to require immersing oneself. I’m sure that we’ll visit there again sometime soon.

Up close, heather flowers look very different than seen as part of the grand vista from the the tops of the moors.  They are so delicate and there is an incredible amount of color variation between flowers.

We explored for a while, taking the opportunity for a photo shoot:

We sang the lovely traditional Scottish tune Wild Mountain Thyme while wandering through the heather.

O the summer time has come
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And wild mountain thyme
Grows around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?

Wild roses twine through the hawthorn, their fragrance wafting on the afternoon breeze.

And the grain is starting to ripen in the ubiquitous wheat fields.

There were some beautiful horse chestnut trees blooming along the path. Horse chestnuts are used to play a game called conkers. I found this nice description of the game.

The kids have had an interesting week; Sage had her first cello recital on Tuesday and she visited Tamworth Castle as part of their study of castles. Today, a helicopter is visiting…

The weather has been just perfect this week. I’ve spent a bit of my time in the sun sawing and sanding this speaker enclosure. It’s not quite finished yet, but before I build the other one, I’m planning to get started on my next project, assembling an amp from 41hz.com.

The bluebells are still blooming as well, though the hot summer weather this week seems likely to indicate their imminent senescence.

I’ve seen this flower, red campion, or Silene dioica, fairly often near the roadside.

Cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris, is one of the most abundant roadside blooms.

Hawthorn is also fairly common, often in hedgerows.

Perhaps the most abundant plant in England, though, is Urtica dioica, the stinging nettle. It grounds profusely on roadsides. If you have to pee while out walking, be sure to be careful or you might end up like Sage with stinging hairs embedded in your backside. Fortunately, crushed dock leaves appear to sooth the sensation somewhat and are usually found in the same habitat. This plant, Lamium album, or white dead-nettle, looks very similar to the stinging nettle, but doesn’t actually irritate.

I’ve also been meaning to visit the nearby Staunton Harold estate. The house itself it still used as a residence, but the grounds are open to the public.

These sculptures were outside the old stables at the Staunton Harold estate which have been renovated to house artisans’ workshops.

This emerging fern was my favorite find of the morning:

I was intrigued by the description of Swithland Wood in a guide to the National Forest. Swithland Wood is designated an “Ancient Woodland”, meaning that it has been continuously wooded since at least 1600AD. Ancient woodlands are not “old growth” and may have changed composition significantly over the years, but are frequently very diverse and will often also contain rare or unusual species.

Bluebells are one of the most common and spectacular of the spring flowers, carpeting the ground in swathes of color reminiscent of the snowdrops that emerged earlier in the spring. They were abundant at Swithland Wood.

Bluebells, known to botanists as Hyacinthoides non-scripta, also have a rarer white phenotype:

The forest covered with a blanket of bluebells is stunning, though my photos don’t do it justice.

Another common herb is wood anemone, or Anemone nemorosa, which often creates a white carpet nicely setting off the bluebells.

I also found a few plants I believe were Valeriana dioica growing in a marshy area next to a stream.

This flower, Ajuga reptans or bugle, was close by as well.

And finally, greater stitchwort, Stellaria holostea, that was growing by the side of the trail.

I haven’t yet discovered a wildflower field guide that I like (it’s hard to replace Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide), but I found the key at the Botanical Society of the British Isles to be quite useful.

We went to see the snowdrops in the gardens at Hopton Hall last weekend. Before we got to Hopton Hall, River wasn’t convinced that it was worth a trip to see some flowers around an old house, but before the end of the walk she opined for an entire week holiday at the hall sometime.

The weather has been quite nice the last few days. It certainly feels like spring. Another representative of the amaryllis family has popped up in our own garden this week:

I like this picture of the narcissus because though the lighting isn’t perfect it is evidence that, contrary to popular belief, the sun does sometimes shine upon the British Isles. I can only imagine that Keats must have been inspired by skies like these.

Here are the kids climbing around on rocks on the top of Mt. Norwottuck, near the summit house.



And this is a view to the north looking towards Hadley and Amherst.


Herb Robert was among the flowers blooming. We’re definitely past peak wildflower season now. I guess the meadow flowers are probably going strong, but the woodlands are settling in for the summer.



Here’s a picture from another hike with some friends up Spruce Hill near Savoy St. Park. Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts slopes down towards North Adams in the background.



Lastly, a nice shot from our trip to Nickerson St. Park on Cape Cod. They look pretty relaxed, eh?

There is some nice scenery from the top of Mt. Tom, especially overlooking Easthampton. We also got a nice look back along the ridge to see where we’d come from in Connecticut. It was clear enough to see the towers in Hartford.

We came across some folks from MassWildlife rappelling down one of the cliff faces to a peregrin falcon nest. Apparently the chick in this nest is the first bird hatched in about 50 years or so on the Mt. Tom range. They were planning to band the chick in order to follow its development. What a job! We saw the falcon soaring around the cliff, making quite a bit of noise. I suppose it wasn’t too happy to see people climbing down to the nest. It felt a little like “My Side of the Mountain”.

There were still quite a few wildflowers, though they are not quite as plentiful as the previous weeks. Some notable new ones include wild geraniums and yellow stargrass.

And an amphibian:

And a click beetle: