Stour and Orwell Path Part 1

 The Stour and Orwell path runs from Cattawade, just up the road from Manningtree and Felixstowe.  Going up one side of the Stour, around the bend and then up one side of the Orwelll to Ipswich and back down the other to Felixstowe, around 40 miles.

We have done a couple of bits of it, but on Sunday set off from the start in Cattawade

Here I am at the start standing on the old Cattawade bridge with the Stour in the background, looking back towards Manningtree.

From here we walked past the pub, garage and vets surgery and then down Factory Lane.  This used to be a narrow lane with a row of factories on the right.  Margaret Thatcher worked in one of them many years ago and so did my late father-in-law, but not sure that they were there at the same time.  These factories are no longer, but the buildings have been upgraded and house other businesses.  The lane is no longer either, but has been made into a proper road and new housing is springing up on the left side.  At the end of the road, the path goes through a gap in the hedge and around The Decoy Pond.

From here along the path next to the railway line, this is the main line between Norwich and London, normally with trains going past every half hour.  Up a hill, then we looked back at the view across the river

we crossed the railway by a footbridge and then followed the footpath across a field and down to the river, spotting the first WayMark for this path

Along the side of the river, then up onto the bank with amazing views across the river, we carried on as far as the Stutton Mill and then turned back, as this is where I want to start the next walk.  

The sun was bright and warm, the views amazing, the river looked so big.  We could see the cars parked along the walls at Mistley in the distance.

Back to the footpath that leads uphill and away from the river to the main road. we left the Stour and Orwell Path at this point and headed towards our starting point. This is the road from Brantham to Ipswich.

Shame the pub is shut, we could have stopped for a drink, however we walked back towards Manningtree along the road,, spotting the first Daffodils of the year on the side of the road.

We turned down Church Lane, to the left past some houses, saw these snowdrops in the hedgerow

On to the church, were we stopped for a quick rest in the porch 

just after the church was a footpath, which we took, leading to a field and a steep hill going down and up and this bought us out on the housing estate at the top of Brantham, we walked though the estate and back to our car.  We passed more people out walking than we ever have on any of our walks, some days we haven't passed anyone, but it was a warm day.

A grand total of 9.75 miles.  A lovely walk with lots of different things to see., looking forward to the next stage.

The start of Spring

The week started with Imbolc, the start of spring, just the beginning, but the signs are there .... the evenings are getting lighter and  bulbs are beginning to poke through the ground.  

The first Wednesday of the month is WIGs night - my Woman's Institute, I have been part of this amazing group for 9 years now, the last two as President.   Each month we normally meet up in a hall in Colchester, but since lock down all our meetings have been on Zoom, not quite the same, infact nothing like the same but it has to do for now.

This month we had a cook- a- long from a vegan Chef @Natashathelovingchef  She spoke about her work and then showed us how to bake this Chocolate Courgette cake, we stirred and mixed and popped them in the oven.  While the cakes baked she showed us lots of ideas for presenting the cake and decorating the plates.  She sprinkled cocoa powder over stencils, made a coulis and made chocolate stars from melted chocolate

This was my creation, quite a sticky torte.  I have not had any chocolate or much sweet stuff for the last month and my tummy soon reacted to it!

I love to update the dresser to fit in with the time of year, in February it is the time for love, not only the start of Spring, Valentines Day but also our Wedding Anniversary.  All the hearts and pink things I can find to dress it up.

From a distance - looking pink!

Friday is my day off and as the sun was shining and it was quite mild I went for a run, and on Saturday morning we went for a walk around the village, to test out our new boots.

Sunday, today is our 34th Wedding anniversary and we woke up to snow and a storm

Steven fed the birds and got some logs in. I stayed in all day, did some cooking, ironing and other jobs around the house, just popped out to take some photos.  Steven went for a walk to the allotment, but I just didn't want to go out in the snow and cold

Spring

Welcome spring!

Today is the Spring Equinox, the day when the day is the same length as the night and the beginning of spring.  From today until the summer solstice the days will get longer.

I decorated my dresser with spring flowers from the garden and a crocheted garland.

A few days ago I saw a post on Instagram inviting people to join in with making a flower crown and posting a photo wearing it today, so I thought, why not that sounds like fun, so I knocked this up

And popped it on!

Smelt nice too!

You can see the others on Instagram #primaveracrowns

Blackthorn

As I was driving through Ardleigh this morning I noticed a long hedgerow covered in white blossom. It looked amazing especially with the cloudless sky and the sun shining.  On the way back I had to stop and take a photo!
Just looked it up, this is Blackthorn, the bush that produces sloes. The sort that make sloe gin!
An old wives tale says that it won't warm up while the blossom is still on the bush - will have to keep an eye on it!