I am not an early riser. Never have been. I’m a night owl. Even as a child you’d find me reading under the blanket with a torch long after I was supposed to be asleep. So the weekly photo challenge to take a photograph early in the morning has been a real challenge.
Staying on a working farm in the countryside, this is what I captured at 6 am this morning. And yes it was cold in my pjs, and the grass was wet on my bare feet, but you know what? The light really is incredible at this time of day. Perhaps it is not too late for this old dog to learn new tricks…
A narrow lane lined with hedgerows of a ghostly white mist (the delicate blossom of the blackthorn) leads from the ferry point into the village. Finches flit from one side of the lane to the other, others sing merrily in the bushes and all the while the warmth of the sun intensifies the coconut fragrance of the deep yellow gorse flowers.
A pretty white-washed, thatched cottages, cute welcoming pub, type of Cornish village greets you, with even a General Stores! If only all Cornwall’s villages were this pretty.
Walking around the village only takes a few minutes – it isn’t big. But you can stroll through woodland, at this time of year delightfully sunny, wild primroses, violets, wild angelica and early ransomes with their light garlic fragrance, line the banks. Periwinkle in shades from white through palest lavender to deepest purple clamber over the dry stone walls, and red and white campion, yellow celandine and the common daisy are raising their heads to the sun.
Periwinkle
Wild Angelica
Primroses
Best wear good walking boots…
A circular walk takes you to Kestle Barton which has a cultural centre (closed on a Monday) and on towards Frenchman’s Creek. Now anyone who is a fan of Daphne du Maurier will have heard of this place and I had to have a closer look, despite it involving a steep walk down (and naturally back up) a rather steep track.
Steps and a gate
Countryside views
Blackthorn hedge
A pretty house
Cornish walls
Frenchmans Creek
Aqua
Almost there…
Wild violets
Fresh eggs?
Finding the creek though was magic. Especially as there were several white egrets feeding there. Of course as soon as I appeared with camera in hand, they flew away. But I enjoyed a short walk alongside the water with its tantalisingly flashes of blue and green appearing to me between the trees. I could have continued around the headland back to Helford, but as I had left the OH on a particularly lovely granite bench at the top of the track I had to head back the way I had come.
Returning to the village on a higher level
Back to the other side of the river we spent a pleasant hour or two at the Ferryboat Inn, supping ginger beer with ice and lime slices and watching hardy children play in the water and the fog rolling in from the south. An agreeable way to spend the afternoon.
If you enjoy a walk, long or short, then have a look at Jo’s site where you are welcome to join in. And I am sure she will forgive me using a boat on part of this walk as I know Jo is extremely partial to boats and water 🙂
Taking photos from a moving vehicle, in this case The Canadian Train across the continent from Toronto to Vancouver, means that the images are not necessarily as sharp as they could be.
Sunflowers in the Prairies
But you get the idea that these croplands are BIG!
For one fleeting moment I came face-to-face with the coyote. My trembling fingers clicked the shutter. Then he was gone. All too quickly. Blending in with the dry corn-coloured grasses. And I was able to breathe again…
A fleeting glimpse of a wild coyote in Yosemite Valley
A lovely spring walk in the walled garden at Croft Castle this weekend brought me to the pond. I like the pond, but so does everyone else so you have to be patient and wait until almost closing time to have it to yourself.
The beech hedge is still brown, but the weeping willow is showing signs of new life and at last the bench is empty of people.
But look closer at the pond… and the curious ramp in the corner
and you will see there is life …and new life beginning.
Staying on a working farm in the countryside, this is what I captured at 6 am this morning. And yes it was cold in my pjs, and the grass was wet on my bare feet, but you know what? The light really is incredible at this time of day. Perhaps it is not too late for this old dog to learn new tricks…
TRAVEL WORDS 