Pear Blossom

Another quiet day.  It was my turn for breakfast in bed so I read a couple more chapters of 'The Plot' which is by Madeleine Bunting, the author of 'Love of Country' about the Hebrides.  The latter was recommended to me by PaulaJ and set me up nicely for our forthcoming holiday on the Hebrides.  Pal Verity knew I had enjoyed it and so she gave me 'The Plot' as my birthday present.  It is about a plot of land on the Hambleton Hills, bought by Bunting's father.  He was a devout Catholic and sculptor, and he built a Chapel on the plot as a war memorial.  Bunting is an excellent writer and her books are extremely well researched.  'The Plot' does not only tell the story of her father, but considers the history, geography and inhabitants of this small area of escarpment and farmland on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors.

The book is all the more enjoyable because it is a part of the country we know reasonably well from orienteering on its moors and in its forests.  I am planning for us to visit later in the year, walk the Drover's Road, revisit the White Horse and hopefully find Bunting's Chapel.

 Once up and about I mowed the grass which is actually several houses' worth as our terrace shares a strip of lawn at the back.  Some neighbours don't own mowers and others are working full-time, plus it gives me an hour or so of exercise.

Once the sun emerged late afternoon we went up to check if the bees have arrived in the allotment.  Tony had noted that the fruit trees were blossoming and it's crucial that the flowers arrive with the bees.  The pear and plum trees are covered in blossom and, thankfully, lots of bees were doing their stuff.