An Early Morning Walk ~ in which daffodils abound

Hello Friends!

The gentle warm days of early Spring have arrived in my Shire so this morning it was easy to decide that housework can wait, and I will take advantage of this glorious weather and all it has to offer.

Following a fortifying breakfast of oatmeal, banana, walnuts and dates, and wrapped up warmer than I probably needed, I set off from the cottage pointing my feet towards the coast.  How glad am I that this decision was made? It was simply glorious out there this morning!

The quiet calm of the morning belies the furious hidden activity as the land awakens from a long slumbering Winter.  Soon, the peace was speckled with a confetti of notes, as a chorus of many birds started singing out their hearts, from chirruping robins, to cawing crows, and the urgent cries of gulls wheeling over the high cliffs.

As the sun pushed its way through the lightly clouded sky, away on the furthest shores of the bay a pale sea mist hides the distant cliffs, softening the milky blue waters of St Bride's Bay.

Closer to shore in the shallows the bright sunlight dances and shimmies across the rippled surface of the sea.

A tractor ploughs the land chugg chugg chugging along, chased by a rather large flock of expectant gulls, hoping for a tasty morsel, maybe a juicy worm or grub, to be uprooted in the freshly churned, velvety dark brown soil.

Sudden movement caught my eye, and some distance away, around a corner came a group of young military men, with packs on their backs, running along, thumpity thumpity thump thump thump on the hard ground beneath their feet. It did not take them long to catch me up, and I stood aside to aid their swift passage. Sweat poured off their brows as they panted their way towards their destination. I wondered how far they had come and how far they had yet to go.  I felt exhausted just watching.

When Spring comes, she brings flowers ~ oh! so many flowers, and today, as the daffodils are reaching their end the coast is starting to flourish with the first early signs of magnificent displays of coastal flowers to come.

There were daffodils, oh, so many daffodils, dotted here and there, and so many different sorts, from all yellow to pale yellow sporting deeper yellow trumpets; trumpets edged with frilly orange coral ruffles; all white petals and white trumpets; short fat trumpets or long slim elegant trumpets. Almost any combination you could think of! Here are a few growing in big clumps along the path edge ~~~

Further along, out on the path, the Spring flowers that our coastline is famous for are beginning to bloom, how this lifted my spirits to see Bladder Campion, Violets, and Sea Thrift all emerging from their long slumber since last Summer ~~~

Soon the flowers will be spectacular as more and more flowers join in the display, with great drifts of pink and white sprawling along the high cliff tops, suspended in a sandwich of blue above and below.

Nature is the best therapy, and I returned to my cottage restored and refreshed, quite ready for a delicious, thirst quenching cup of tea!

Until next time~~~
Deborah