Blue sky day - WidWed, subject 'sky'

Well, there was only one colour for the sky round here today and that was blue.  It's been gorgeous, a day to spend outside.  And being very lucky, I was taken out to lunch at The Greyhound in Stockbridge.  We ate lovely summery food sitting in comfortable chairs under an umbrella in the courtyard garden.  Afterwards it was back up the hill and a walk on Stockbridge Down, yet another beautiful high-up place with stonking views (yes, an Iron Age hillfort and owned by the National Trust, where you bump your head on the sky).

There were several large and rather beautiful horses grazing up there, of which this is one. I chose the grey white one because that seemed to fit in with cloud colours, but the only cloud round his sleepy head were the flies!  Also on the hill a small herd of bullocks hiding in the shade of some bushes.  Far below we could see mini tractors moving black plastic bales of grass (for hay? silage?).  A blue butterfly flittered past us and a couple of whites, but still there seem rather few.

The Extra is looking back east and the wildflower, I keep wanting to say, is meadowsweet, but why would it be growing on a dry hillside?  I shall have to do further checking.  (Ah, no,. I've just got this - it's a very near relation to meadowsweet called dropwort, or Filipendula vulgaris - difficult sometimes, isn't it!)  Meanwhile I did want to thank all of you who encouraged me to start the Wildflower Challenge.  Hopefully next week :)

So there we are.  That's been my day, and a very lovely one.  Hope yours was good too  xx


2018 wildflowers to date:

JANUARY
Snowdrops
FEBRUARY
Gorse (or furze);  Wild daffodils
MARCH
Coltsfoot;  Primroses;  Blackthorn
APRIL
Greater periwinkle;  Goat willow;  Ground ivy;  Cowslips;  Daisy;
Common field speedwell;  Wood anemone;  Greater celandine
MAY
Cuckoo flower (or lady’s smock);  Yellow archangel;  Common dog violet;
Crab apple;  Bluebell;  Red clover;  Germander speedwell;
Three-cornered leek;  Hawthorn;  Yellow flag; dandelion;  Common vetch; Dog rose;  Green alkanet;
JUNE
Bramble;  Stinking iris;  dropwort;