Early morning started with a sky of pale watercolour wash blue but with sun beginning to break through.  A morning of promise. A pigeon cooed in the trees, a lone voice  in the wood. The mornings are starting earlier and I haven’t heard the fox bark for a few nights now but the moon is no longer as bright.

 It is the cyclical aspect of nature that gives me a degree of calm. The mill stream continues to run and the dog violets are packing the hedgerows. Walking Rosie up the hill the lane is brightly lit by the lesser celandine and primroses, all their flowers reaching towards the sunlight. Everything seems more manageable when the sun is out.

Almost overlooked are the bright yellow flowers of coltsfoot, part of the daisy family. Their strange scaly looking stems make them unusual; their other name is ‘son before father’ because the flowers come out before the leaves.  Traditionally the plant was used for respiratory problems and coughs!