The quiet life in the countryside

On my way back from buying my fresh tofu in Gloucester I diverted towards the River Severn to also buy more organic kefir, milk and double cream from Jess’s Ladies farm in Hardwicke. I was lucky to get the last two litre containers of kefir, which will keep me going for about a week. I drove on towards the river but became sidetracked when my attention was caught by some immense sunflowers in the back garden of a small brick cottage. 

I managed to park a few hundred yards further up the lane and walked back to the ‘centre of ‘Framilode’, a collection of cottages and houses and an old pub on the former towpath of the original Stroudwater canal close to where it joined the Severn via a small dock or compound with a ‘lock’. This stretch of the canal later became obsolete in the mid 19th century following the construction of the much larger scale Gloucester to Sharpness sea canal. The Stroudwater lay across the ‘line’ of the new canal and so it joined it which allowed much easier access to the River Severn and to the inland waterway network running north from Gloucester.

I walked back to photograph the sunflowers, which must have been about thirty feet tall, each supported by several bamboo canes lashed to them. Unfortunately it was very hard to get a picture that showed the scale and enormity of the sunflowers. (Further to general incredulity in the Comments about the sunflowers, I have added an 'Extra' showing them. I may have exaggerated the height but they certainly look as if they are twenty feet high).

 As I stood trying my best a local man walked past me with his Labrador dog and we started chatting. He’d recently moved to Framilode, having wanted to do so for many years. It is a quite special little area which I also like.

After he continued on his way, I heard the familiar clip clop of horses hooves and looking back up the road towards my car I saw this woman riding her horse and leading a young offspring. As she got closer I asked if I could take some pictures and she seemed very pleased. I asked if the horses minded me directing a long lens at them, and she replied that they seemed quite happy as their ears were pointing forwards, which is a sign of contentment. I can see from their eyes that they were looking directly at me.