Ne'er cast a clout till May is out

I started to write this post weeks ago and then lots of horrible things happened and my mind was too full of them to concentrate. 
My mind is now a little more settled and I wanted to finish it and post it and apologise for not being around lately. I have neglected my little blog and sadly neglected your blogs too, please forgive me.
I hope Normal Service has been resumed..........
Rather than referring to the month of May the saying in the title of this post refers to the shrub and warns us not to put away your winter vests just yet!
Also known as May, the hawthorn is a common hedgerow shrub.

 On the first of May this year we KS1 (the infants to you and me) celebrated May Day and in front of their parents danced around the maypole and preformed some country dancing to entertain them. 
May day is steeped in mystery and is based on the Pagan 'Feast of Fire' which welcomed the returning sun. 

I made crowns for the May Queen and King.

Hawthorn was often used in garlands and crowns on May day.
The maypole would most likely a tree brought in fro the woods and then decorated with ribbons and garlands.
What else did we get up to in  may?

A walk in Lancashire

We headed off to the Ribble Valley

As you may now realise, our walks nearly always start with a bite to eat.

We stopped off at Whalley this time.

Then drove the short drive to start our walk in Ribchester,

We last went to Ribchester in this post and then again here in this post.

We walked past the 12th century St Saviours' church with its Norman windows and doorway.

Through Stydd Manor Farm

and some new born lambs.

Pendle Hill in the distance to our right as we cross the fields following the footpath.

A snoop in the clay soil looking for Roman Remains....we found a few bits of old pot but doubt they are Roman!

A family of ducks.

We did spot a hare here but it was too quick for me to get a photo.

We did get one of this deer though!

And then we were nearly back at Ribchester and the car.
Lots of other things have happened in May and already it is June, and summer. Catch up posts to follow.

Warning

Do not open any emails you receive from my email address that has a single word in the subject box. The single word has a space in it such as 'startl ing' or 'comple ted' it is a virus. It has knocked out my laptop but thankfully my ipad is ok. 
no posts from me for a while.
I CAN NO LONGER GET EMAILS SO I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUBLISH ANY COMMENTS YOU MIGHT LEAVE...SORRY!
I hope to get a new email address but as we are away next week in North Wales I won't be able to do anything until we get back.
BEWARE this virus is nasty and has caused no end of frustration and hassle!

Sad news

The Great British Farm Project.

I have followed Tracy and Stephen's journey as they tried to save farm animals and give them a better home to live out their days and I was sad to read that they can no longer go on.
They now have to find home for all the animals in their care and this must be heart breaking for them. To see years of hard work just drain away. I would love it if you could visit their page here (it has not yet been updated with the sad news) you can donate via paypal or go to their facebook page here to get a link to their Re-homing page. 
I am sure they won't mind me using one of their lovely photos here on this post. 

I don't want to beg, or make people feel guilty, or pushed into giving and goodness knows we are all a little strapped for cash at the moment but If we share this all over the social media they may get enough money together to be able to re-home the animals.

Tree following in May

My tree in May
So last month I started to follow a tree.
Here is a link to Loose and Leafy tree following page. I have also started a list to my own tree following posts on my sidebar.

The 7th of May was a very wet day. But you can see the leaves of the large horse chestnut had kept the ground beneath the tree reasonably dry.

I only had my little camera with me this time, but you can see how much the tree has changed in a month.

All the lime green leaves are open and we have buds and flowers.

It really was not the best weather to take photos I am afraid but I wanted to keep to as close to the 7th of each month as possible.

I found this little sapling growing at the base of the big tree.
But even in the shelter of the tree I was getting wet and retreated back to my car.

All photos in this post were taken on 7th May 2014

The rest of April

Luddenden

Well April came and went and now we are into May. Although my birthday is in April and I always seem to have a lovely month, I think May is secretly my favourite month.

We had some lovely weather in April and Hubby and I managed a couple of good walks. 

Oats Royd Mill

One was to finish an abandoned walk we started in January 2013 (blog post here) That day the rain drove us back to the car before we could get all the way around.

So we parked the car on Stocks Lane overlooking Luddenden Village and started the steady climb uphill.

 Down Old Riding Lane

 Across many fields and down lots of footpaths...

Can you spot the ladybird?

 After wandering around the edge of a large field on a steep hill looking for the footpath and stile (we think the person doing up a nearby barn had moved the sign) we emerge further down the valley looking back at Oat Royd Mill and Luddenden in the distance.

 Along this green lane

 Lots of new born lambs here.

And we make our way onto Bank house Lane and walk back to the hamlet of Booth (near where we started our walk in January 2013)

As we drop down into the valley.......it started to rain!

 We walked down Cow Lane onto Mill Lane.

Past the smallholding.

 And Oats Royd Mill (now apartments)

We came across this tiny baby field mouse. Hubby picked him up as he was right in the middle of the path and he put him in the undergrowth nearby.

 And so we arrive back at Luddenden...before the rain gets too heavy.

And so we arrive at May.