Cowslips on the common

One of the reasons I fell in love with Stroud and decided to move here was that when I first visited at Easter 1992, Rodborough common was carpeted with cowslips. At the time, they were an endangered species, but seemingly no one had told the Rodborough flowers! Two years later, I moved to Stroud, and here I still am, 20 years on, with a view from my study over that very same common.

It was sunny but hazy, and I was knackered. So I just lay around on the common while CleanSteve went for the interesting shots. I thought I'd go for a super-macro on this shot, but the wind started blowing, which is why it's a bit blurry.

After we came home, I started organising and importing some recipes and menus into an app called Pepperplate. Planning ahead for the wheat-free week might be easier now. I certainly hope so. Chickpea and bacon soup tonight, with buckwheat noodles and salad. Not quite as gross as it sounds!

Just watched an excellent Timeshift programme on BBC4 about the little-known Gloucestershire war poet, Ivor Gurney. It seems he may be getting some recognition at last. I think I wrote about him when I visited the In Flanders Field museum at Ypres last November.