DERELICT SUNDAY AND SNOWDROPS

After a good “All Age” service at Church, we decided, as it was such a lovely day, to go out for a short drive, being mindful of the fact that petrol is now very expensive and thinking we wouldn’t go too far.

I made some sandwiches quickly and we were soon on our way.  We went to one of our favourite places, taking the road through Aldbourne and then turning left to Eastridge.  Once up at the top, we sat and ate our sandwiches to the sound of birds singing, which was wonderful.  We saw several red kites, a kestrel, lots of pheasants and many smaller birds.  Before we moved on, we sat and read our books for a while and just generally enjoyed being out in God’s wonderful creation. 

We then drove on a little way and came to a wooded area.  I spotted this wonderful, derelict tree, just after we got out of the car, so took several shots, and the bonus was having a beautiful blue sky, with a plane in the background - I wonder if our Blip friend, Heidi, was on it?  

I decided to go for a wander but Mr. HCB had forgotten to put his walking boots in, so just stayed by the gate while I went exploring.  I nearly went head over heels a couple of times because my feet got caught in some brambles, and I frightened a pheasant in the undergrowth - or did it frighten me?  I know I screamed when it screeched and flew out of the woods.  I had a good mooch around, taking photographs as I went but was soon on my way back through the woods towards where Mr. HCB was waiting.  We then drove back home, enjoying the sight of all the drifts of snowdrops on the roadside verges, with more derelict trees - so I have made a collage from some of those shots and put that in as an extra.  

It was so good to be out enjoying the sunshine and it really felt very spring-like - let’s hope that the weather will hold for a while, so that we can all do our pruning jobs in the garden in the next few days.

Along with so many others, we are very saddened and upset when we listen to the News at the moment, and can only listen, watch and pray for all that is happening in Ukraine.  However, I am reminded of this verse in the Bible and hope that this war will soon be over so that the people of Ukraine can do these things again:

“As long as the world exists, 
     there will be a time for planting 
          and a time for harvest. 
There will always be cold and heat, 
     summer and winter, 
          day and night.”
Genesis 8:22 - Good News Bible