Walking through the opening we find ourselves on the edge of the cow-pastures. No lilacs here, but there is a lot of cow parsley growing at the side of the paths. Directly behind us is the gate to one of the fields belonging to Hayes Farm. Let's turn around and have a look.

In a field carpeted with bright yellow buttercups, three horses lie sleeping. It looks like a lovely place to stretch out and rest. They must have had a tiring day yesterday, though it is still pretty early in the morning, maybe we should still be in bed too. The white cottage is the Hayes farmhouse, I regularly walk down there for my eggs, I have to pay a little more for their free range eggs with bright orange yolks. Much better tasting and more aesthetically pleasing than the ones you can buy in shops.

Two hawthorn bushes, one with pale pink flowers. This is very unusual. There are two kinds of hawthorn blossom, the ubiquitous white ones and a deep red one that is less often found. This must be a cross between the two. I must take a cutting from it and try to propagate it. Be back in a minute..

This a called a stile, also known as a kissing gate, it's a way of moving from one field to another. The name kissing gate comes from the fact that the gentleman would climb the stile first and turning around to assist the lady over, would sometimes take advantage of her distraction to steal a kiss. Some of the more dashing young men would attempt to take other liberties, of a more risqué nature, while the lady was preoccupied by lifting her skirts and negotiating the stile. A firm slap on the cheek would soon put them in their place.

Once again we have to walk past the rapeseed oil plants. Remember to cover your mouth and nose. Pollen hangs heavily in the air and the rape gives off a very pungent aroma.

That's the way we have to go, through this field covered in dandelion clocks and over that hill you can see in the distance. I've just recalled that there is a nice lilac tree against my friend Paul Sheen's house on Sutton Road, and that is where we're headed. I went there the other day to work on his computer I had to pause at the gate and admire the lilac which was in full flower.

Here is is! Maybe not looking as good as it did a couple of days ago. But it's not too bad, considering the bad weather we had during it's blooming period. Let's cross the road and try to get a better shot.

Ah.. That's much, much better, taking the picture from a distance shows it to much better effect.. This tree has been here for more years than I can remember and it makes a nice show at this time of year. The white house on the left is where Paul and Allison live.

Walking down Franderground Drive towards home. First a white and then a pink clematis sprawl  over a fence on the other side of the street. That particular garden is built on the site of the old flour mill I used to play around as a child. Ah, sweet memories. The miller's daughter was a lovely girl, and all the boys would be round there preening their feathers and hoping to catch her eye.

This lovely snowdrift of flowers is the Spirea Japonica that grows in my front garden against the gate. This must mean that we're home. Would you like to come in and join me in a pot of tea and some hot buttered crumpets? Or maybe you'd like to take the walk again?