Flaming June

Well, not so flaming June or 'something else must have happened'. Something else must have happened for there to have only been four visits this month. Probably rain, although we did have some of the hottest weather of the year so far. Something else must have happened but I can't remember what.

The first batch of photos records the state of the allotment at the start of the month. I have to say that it is the best that we have seen it in a long time. My potatoes have really taken off. I did my usual bean frame work and I was keen that the few strawberries that were forming were protected from the birds and clean from the dirt of the soil. This paid dividends and the crop was better than my expectations.

Our allotment ends just beyond the short fruit trees planted among the strawberries with two rows of berries beyond. Behind me are the shed and greenhouse.

Another occupier of my time was the fitting of IKEA wardrobes for our friends, Paul and Mary.

Due to lack of time our first outing of the month was just an afternoon at Calke Abbey. This time it was just a visit to the grounds. The gardens there keep to the theme of 'repair not renovate'. The building is full of stuff and the walled gardens are a mixture of formal, informal and stuff. But there is some colourful stuff. 

The building seems to float in a sea of meadow stuff.

Then came the real treat. We had been directed to a hide at the end of the car park. There were a few wows.

Greater spotted woodpecker

Green finch

Gold finch

 Our next visit was to Ashford-on-the-Water. This is on the A6 just through Bakewell. The object of the visit was the 'well dressing'. It has a few less wells than the big one at Tissington. We arrived in time to park on the street outside the church.

Not only was it a well dressing but it was also a flower festival in the church and a scarecrow competition. Irene said that she had never seen so many flowers in a church. The theme was 'Creation'. Here are some examples.

What is God reading on His rest day?

It was coffee time so I asked a passing person for directions to a coffee shop and he gave me directions and we entered the tiny premises with many others. While we sat our helpful gentleman entered. He worked at the shop. Later we found cheaper community run places around the village.

The village was not large and we soon visited all the well dressings and spotted some odd scarecrows.

 Sadly we were visiting towards the end of the week. The colours were fading and the clay cracking.

In the village hall we looked over a display of the previous well dressings. In 1956 when the vicar restarted the pagan tradition all the wells had Biblical themes but over the years this has grown less. Last year there was a dressing commemorating '30 years of the Disney Channel'. There was no Biblical content this year.

For lunch we took ourselves over the bridge to sit by the River Wye which was shallow and very clear.

 From there we walked across the A6 and up a side road. At the start of our walk there was a strange sign.

It was a steep walk to the top of the hill but it was worth it for the view across the meadow to the river below.

Before leaving we had to pay another visit to the church to see an unusual object. The picture and its explanation is below.

 My next June entry needs a blog of its own.