While I was staying at my mum’s last week one of the things I really wanted to do was go for a morning walk in the fen. I was rather optimistically planning to go very early to see a beautiful sunrise (inspired by a local photographer). However, I’m not a morning person so I headed out after breakfast around 9am. I did enjoy a glorious blue sky though which made the sunflowers and golden fields look even more vibrant. I’d seen lots of photos on the village Facebook group of the field of sunflowers, especially this one with the smiley face. Luckily it wasn’t hard to find! Actually, there were several with smiley faces but this was the best one.

I used to ride my pony along these tracks every day as a young girl…

I seem to have dressed a bit like a sunflower with my yellow hoodie and khaki camo print leggings. In fact I wore my complete TOG24 outfit (seen in this post). My T-shirt says “Sunshine” on it, which was very appropriate. I stopped at various points to take photos with my phone and the camera. It was very nostalgic because I used to ride my pony along these tracks every day as a young girl. Most of it looks exactly the same as it did 40 years ago. There are the inevitable new houses around the edges of the village, but as it’s mostly farmland it’s probably (hopefully) safe from developers. Who knows though – there’s a massive development under construction on the other side of the village.

There were so many blackberries! I’ve read that it’s because of the wet summer…every cloud and all that! When I return to mum’s in a couple of week’s I’ll be going back with a bag and picking some. I love apple and blackberry crumble!

Another thing I’d been meaning to do all summer was visit the church because there’s been a pair of peregrine falcons nesting there and they successfully raised chicks. I think I probably missed the boat there because the only birds I saw were pigeons! But it was lovely to see the church where many family occasions have taken place – my christening and first wedding, numerous other weddings and funerals. I also used to go regularly as a Brownie/Girl Guide. I’m not religious now but this church is very special to me. As it was a nice day the doors were open and there was some activity inside. I paused for a moment to breath in the familiar, evocative smell that only exists in churches, this one in particular. I wanted to go in but Isobel was waiting. Maybe I’ll go back next time.

I don’t know how many opportunities I’ll get to do these things. My mum’s house is now sold STC and we’re waiting for a moving date, which will probably be early November. So this really is the last summer. It’s funny how you can put off doing things, thinking “I’ll do that next time”, but when the deadline is fast approaching it focuses the mind. I’m generally someone who looks forward rather than back, but every now and then it’s good to pause and take a trip down memory lane.

What have you been doing this week? Do you have anything planned for the weekend?