Woodland Magic….. It Weren’t Blue….Meanwhile….
by Bernie Bell - 09:01 on 31 August 2023
Woodland Magic….
We parked in the car park in St. Mary’s village, Holm, between the sea and the Loch of Ayre, and embarked on a walk around the Loch - walking along a grassy track which begins just past the information board on which the wildlife paintings were done by the pupils of St. Andrew’s Primary School……
…heading for the bridge - with accompanying landscape art?...
After crossing the bridge we walked through what is now a grassy patch with wild flowers, including magnificent Teazel….
And some equally magnificent Angelica plants – on one of which a Red Admiral was sunning itself…
A variety of species of little trees have been planted which means that, one day, this will be a fine patch of woodland…
Then, into the woods, where we chose to take the left-hand path at the ‘T’ junction…
…and found ourselves walking through a fine mix of trees…
And on a Docken stem, the cocoon of ? ….
Be Warned…The board walk through the trees is very slippy in places.
This section of the walk leads to a stile…
If you cross this stile, you can connect up with this walk….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/09/27/st-marys-walk/
But we went back the way we came, to the ‘T’ junction, where we proceeded along the path ahead through the trees to….The Roundhouse!
…inside which is a wee, wild garden with Roses, Cotoneaster and Potentilla…
And on, to a re-cycled polytunnel deep in the woods…
The place just got more and more like a Fary-tale – Hansel & Gretel – Little Red Riding Hood.
A view through the trees, across the Loch, to St. Mary’s….
And then - tree/house….
Returning towards the village, looking back over the Loch….
Somewhere around here are the remains of an Iron Age broch…
https://canmore.org.uk/site/2387/st-marys-loch-of-ayre
Walking along the side of the Loch nearest to the road we encountered a Cormorant in trouble…
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=16471
We then walked down through the village to the public toilets by the pier to thoroughly wash our hands - Bird Flu is still with us.
It was a strong, healthy bird - but a thorough wash-up was a good idea.
I snapped the Hero of the Hour by a nice piece of tile-work…
Continuing the theme of old phone boxes….
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=16467
…..the now defunct Post Office – where it’s just about possible to read ‘Holm Post Office‘ on the sign over the door – not for much longer though…..
Then home – to find a bag of dwarf runner beans hanging from the door handle – good neighbours – Orkney life.
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It Weren’t Blue….
…it were orange….
9.00 p.m. 30th August 2023….
https://www.britannica.com/science/blue-moon-astronomy
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Meanwhile…..
…back on Planet Earth….
"the environment has now been left to fend for itself".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66642878
My tuppenceworth re. water pollution…
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=15991
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Here’s one I made earlier… https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/01/18/gardening-helps/
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