Rivelin Valley and Redmires Reservoirs

We've been happy to stay mainly at home this week as gardening has taken up our time, but yesterday we decided to go out for a lunch date in case the weather turned to rain as it can do quite suddenly because of our changeable English climate.

We both thought of going to one of the many reservoirs in our local area as being near the water on a sunny day can be very pleasant.  Redmires Reservoirs are three large expanses of water on high ground with many public footpaths and places to sit and, therefore, a good option.

We drove up steep and winding lanes to get there.  We stopped by an old iron bridge and walked along one of the paths by the stream that feeds into the reservoir.  Although these particular reservoirs seem remote, residential homes are not far away.  It's a popular place to come and walk the dog or have a picnic.  Being man-made there are posters showing maps of the area and other information about how the place was flooded to make the reservoirs.  Old stone pillars that were once on farmland are submerged deep in the water.  

We drove along the road by the water until it wasn't possible to go any further as visitors then take the paths up to the moors or down to picnic places by the water.  The paths were narrow.  High grass, nettles and ferns made it more difficult to walk that way.  The wider path by the stream was a better place to walk and take photos of the wild flowers.  Apparently a visitor can see water voles and other endangered species in the area.

The water is very deep although at the moment there's less of it.  Yesterday the shoreline looked  exposed and wider than usual. 

I didn't see any small mammals, but the wild flowers caught my attention.  It was interesting to see purple betony, white dead nettles, wild geraniums, yellow vetch or toad flax, bramble flowers, many foxgloves as well as buttercups.

After the short walk we retraced our route and stopped at a country pub for our lunch break.

We enjoyed our lunch.  Mr P had a steak with chipped potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes and a side salad and I had wild mushroom ravioli with a rocket salad.  After a look at the view of the farmland from the pub garden we headed home, this time going back down the winding hills and then along the Rivelin River valley road where the long avenue of mature trees provided a tunnel of greenery and shade for several miles.

Well. that's all for this week.  Thank you for your visit.  I hope that you have a good weekend!

June Days

Yesterday marked the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere and it was the longest day of the year.  It was so light that at 4.30 in the morning I couldn't sleep.  It has been very warm at night and I've been in the habit of getting up early and pottering about in the garden.  Looking out of the bedroom window towards the north east I marvelled at the sky with the colours being so vivid.

An hour later the sunrise had gone, but the sunshine continued throughout the day as it has done for many days now.

It was our wedding anniversary on Sunday and we were sent many cards and given gifts to mark this occasion and for Father's Day that occurs at the same time during our special weekend. I re-potted the beautiful calla lily and set out the cards on the mantel shelf of the dresser.

On Sunday our local daughter M invited us to her home for a light high tea of chicken in breadcrumbs or sea bream and salad followed by a dessert of refreshing mixed fruit salad.  We were joined by our granddaughter.  The rest of the grandchildren who live far away were, of course, with their own families. (No photos, but as you can imagine we enjoyed being together).  More gifts from the family with an Italian theme - wine and chocolate biscuits from Carluccio's food counter and also an indoor pot plant from our granddaughter.

We've yet to celebrate our wedding anniversary by going out for a lunchtime restaurant meal, but there'll be photos to share when we do.  

Meanwhile we're enjoying our garden and buying new plants to put in it.  Yesterday afternoon was another gardening day in the sunshine.  The white cosmos will be planted in the 'white flower border' near the white roses and foxgloves.  The pelargoniums have been put into a planter that contained Spring bulbs and the white alliums.  The alliums are now going to seed, but they're still looking pretty.

The 'Happy Anniversary' rose our daughter D gave us a few years ago has produced many flowers with more to come and is, therefore, a delight to see in our June garden.

I hope that you're having a good week.  Thank you for coming by. 

P.S. I've had more issues with Blogger.  I apologise for any inconvenience you might have regarding leaving a comment.

Linking with Riitta's blog at https://floral-passions.blogspot.com/