Out for a walk

Little Owl and I walked down over the fields and across the river to the other side of the valley this morning. It has been raining a lot here this week so Little Owl enjoyed stomping in all the muddy puddles. Her left welly has quite a bad leak but it doesn’t seem to put her off. We were heading for a patch of wild raspberries we know of. We managed to get a few but they have mostly gone over. They’re much smaller than garden raspberries but still lovely and sweet. Needless to say, they don’t make it home but are gobbled up as we walk. It’s been a funny week of reminiscing for me. On Wednesday Little Owl and I went to a kids’ play at the Pleasance as part of the Edinburgh Festival. I remember sitting in virtually the same spot in the courtyard last year when we’d just moved. Walking over the fields this morning triggered my memory in the same way. It had all seemed so strange and foreign. These now familiar paths and patches were new discoveries. I’ve drawn some Rosebay Willowherb (left) and some Meadowsweet (right) here for you. Our hedgerows are full of them. If I had known of these plants when I was getting married I would have wandered out on my wedding day and picked some for my bouquet. The flowers of the Willowherb are a beautiful fuchsia pink and the leaves turn a coppery green. The Meadowsweet is like creamy froth and smells of almonds. According to my books Elizabethan housewives used to spread it on their floors to scent the house. Big Dreamer has used it to flavour some of his home-made wine and it tasted great.