Bartimaeus

On the first day of official summer time, nobody told the weather. The day before had been warm and sunny. We had got too hot. We had gone for a walk and visited the village with a summery promise in it’s name, Flore. It is possible the name was from a Roman mosaic and meant floor, but it may have been misunderstood as the Latin for flowers and the village has run with that interpretation.

The gardens were pretty and their village sign had a maypole as the main feature and they have two flower festivals. We visited the churchyard but the church was shut, and someone was tending a grave, planting or placing flowers. We kept a respectful distance. As we left, we met a man at the gate with a bunch of daffodils in his hand and a smile on his face. He remarked on how lovely the day was. I am assuming he was going to a grave too, so felt it was good that this duty, hadn’t also made him grave .

We found a shop that did cake and coffee and was also a refillery. It was closed but was an excellent reason to return another day, with empty jars and stomachs. Shane noticed, looking back, that the building it was in was once a Salvation Army building. It seemed in the spirit of the refilllery, to reuse and recycle the building, and in the resurrection spirit of Easter to see the church repurposed albeit that the new business is focussing on saving resources for this world and its future, rather than saving people for the next world.

It felt like summer, but the clocks were still to change that night and the cows were either lazing in the sun or expecting a dramatic change in the weather.

The may was out and we were casting our clouts, but the next day, as summer time commenced, was a day to get them straight back on again. The brand new woolly hat that I had made, just as summer time was starting, was pressed straight into service, and very beneficial it was too.

Neither of us were involved in Easter egg sharing or decorating but Easter Sunday did present a beautiful egg in our path. It could be a blackbird, but it looks slightly small and as I’ve seen a few goldfinches around and the colours are similar, but the egg smaller, so that is my guess. It is beautiful without any decoration.

There were plenty of lambs around too, watching us curiously, shaking their docked tails. It is always a joy to see them, but they grow up so fast. There were still with their mothers but weaning was in progress.

We have stayed another night in this open spot to return to Flore and have been rewarded by the first sighting this year of a single tiny duckling. It came back today and so did the sun, so we had a bright walk back to Flore.

On the way we met a man with a handy mobility aid. He was making use of its ability to double as a seat, as well as a support during walking. We stopped to admire the view ourselves and to say hello. Shane asked if this was his usual spot and he said he was resting before aiming for the top of the hill. He used to cycle it and told us he had gone to Edinburgh, on his way from Lands End to John O’ Groat’s. We told him we were passing through and heading to the village refillery and he revealed it was his daughter who ran it and the cake was good. We pressed on and he was absolutely right. We have come away with a grand haul and the cake is well worth the walk, and sustained Shane carrying back all the shopping.