THE BEAUTY OF THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

We had a wonderful service at Church, with a great sermon, after which we went off hunting for dereliction again.  We decided to go out towards Lechlade - which proved not to be quite such a good idea, as it was very busy - not only was “the world and its wife” taking advantage of the lovely weather, but there was also some sort of rally there.

However, having got through Lechlade without too much trouble, we meandered around the Gloucestershire country lanes making our way to The Barringtons.  We found a farm gateway where we stopped and ate our picnic lunch and Mr. HCB spotted several Red Kites so spent some time watching them, but when he was coming back to the car, he also spotted some deer in a field just behind us.  He shouted to me, so I quickly got out my other Canon, with the long lens, and managed to get a quick shot of them as they ran across the field.  There was no chance to set the camera, so it was just a matter of pointing, shooting and hoping - and I have just cropped this a little.

A little further on, we came across a lovely shady spot, so got out and wandered some more - I was trying to get a shot of poppies in a field, but the hedges were too high - so I suggested to Mr. HCB that the next time we come out, we bring a stepladder with us - I’m sure you can guess his response!

However, we did see some wonderful Cotswold stone walls - held together with nothing but fresh air, moss and lichen - with ivy meandering its way through them too.  I had to watch out for stinging nettles though - I’ve had enough problems with bites this week, without being stung.  It was so peaceful, with just the occasional car passing by and several cyclists, and it was a joy to hear the birds singing - we think we could hear a woodpecker in the nearby trees, but sadly didn’t see it.

On our way back, towards Fairford, I did spot some cattle feeders that had been upended, and thought that would do for the dereliction today, then just a little way along the road, we came upon a beautiful field of poppies.  

Most of these photographs are SOOC or taken with my iPhone and because I couldn’t decide on a single one decided to make a collage.  However, I haven’t titivated any, just cropped them to fit the collage.  

Hope you all have a great week - and remember it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile - so SMILE - you never know whose life you might change.

“We shall never know 
     all the good
          that a simple smile can do.”
Mother Teresa

P.S. I stayed up quite late last night until I had looked at every single one of those Blippers I follow and tried to leave a comment for most of them. When you have almost 200, it’s impossible to comment on them all every day - so please forgive me - life sometimes gets in the way!