The New Blackmore Vale Magazine

Page 91

Farming

If you could choose a season for a day Country Diary with AJ Selby May brings flocks of pretty lambs, skipping by their fleecy dams. Imagine a scenario if you will, that once you have shuffled off of this mortal coil, you are allowed one day back in England in any season of your choosing. Would you go for a long, lazy day in July, maybe sitting by a riverbank under an azure blue sky watching the dragonflies at work, and then repairing to the village green in the evening as the long shadows fall across the cricket pitch and the match nears its conclusion? Maybe autumn would be your choice; tracts of ancient woodland cloaked in burnished gold and russet and incredible fungi poking out of the leaf litter on the forest floor. Or mid-winter, when the land is stilled by a blanket of snow as a long

walk takes you back to a crackling log fire and a hot drink. Tempting those days may be, but for myself there is only one choice; a perfect day in late May when I am roused early by the mind-blowing crescendo of the dawn chorus in full voice. As the wispy morning mist burns away and the sun rises, I watch the swallows at work darting all over the meadow

full of wildflowers, skimming the top of the vegetation for insects. The trees are in full leaf, every hedge carries beautifully crafted nests with eggs or fledglings, with a profusion of stitchwort, cow parsley, ragged robin and foxglove on their banks. Is there a better place to be in the world than England in late spring when the explosion of colour and life

and song and sun combine to make a magical landscape that takes the breath away? A lovely May day is really something special. Spirits are raised, the countryside is busy and there is so much to look at and enjoy. The sunshine brings out the best in man and beast, and across the meadows the lambs are at play. One cannot fail to smile at their antics, bouncing vertically on the spot, jumping over their siblings and running rings around their mothers. Young calves are also out in the fields by the end of the month enjoying their first taste of spring grass, and safe in the knowledge that the worst that they will face is an occasional horse fly or iterant wasp. Winter goes too slow, spring goes too quick so savour every moment of every day and drink in the glory that is our countryside at the finest time of the year. A.J. Selby

Puzzle solutions Jumbo 3D Sudoku

Killer Sudoku Pro 7+

48×

6

1

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11+

15×

63×

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7

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56×

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18+

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480×

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Brain chain (Hard) 75

58

87

212

138

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Any problems with these puzzles? Email newsdesk@blackmorevale.net

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Cryptic Crossword C H I A N T S O S A T H R U S T S A D U T T H E T A E I G R N E A T E N S N M I P A P E R S S R N S T A C I T U A H E B O Y D A S

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G R A N D F A L A T V H E A E I R U L

L E M E M A E N R E W R M A R D E E

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