Once the clocks go forward, I dust down my bike from the shed and start cycling to work.  I have to confess I don’t do it everyday but aim to ride at least twice a week as its almost 9 miles each way.  The fantastic benefit is that you feel great, with the wonderful feeling of being physically tired instead of mentally.  And another advantage is that I can eat so much more withoutfeeling guilty – just as well as I bought a pack of Jaffa Cakes into the office today! 

By travelling along the same route, week in week out, at a moderate speed, you become very aware of the season unfolding all around you.  The wild garlic is now flowering, the bluebells are giving the woodland floor a bluish hint, some of the fields have turned a dazzling yellow as the rape starts to flower, while baby rabbits dangerously eat grass on the verges.  Its such an exciting time and the 40 minutes goes by very quickly.  The cows are now out in the fields and I love going past the farm yard as they wait to be milked.

By the time, I get into the office, I feel all is well with the world and I can do everything.  Go on, get on your bike!

Lost cycling glove

Originally uploaded by dog walker2008

As you may have gathered by now I have a fascination with all things lost and for my sins have been photographing them for about 2 years. Some of the images make you pounder, others make you feel uneasy while there are a handful that make you think “why on earth?”

I took this photo last summer while walking along the South Downs Way so it doesn’t surprise me that a cyclist dropped it. What has made me curious is why someone would chose this as a “favourite” in Flickr. In my eyes, its an ok photo, composition is average, the imagery is pretty crisp, except for the cow parsley on the right of the glove and I suppose the cow parsley stem on the bottom of the photo does interfere with the glove. But I have no idea why it would warrant being a “favourite.” Am I missing something?

For the past week I’ve been meaning to make wild garlic pesto as the plant has been taunting me with its heady scent.  Finally this evening we took the dogs to Wyldham Woods for their evening walk and I grabbed my chance to pick a few leaves.  This woodland is magical – the wood anemones are revealing their delicate white heads, bluebell leaves and wild garlic fight for space under the beech trees, and every now and then you catch a glimpse of a deer.

So after dinner I made the brilliant green paste, adapting a traditional basil pesto recipe and, boy, its got bags of flavour.  I can’t wait to add it to pasta but the big question is, just how antisocial is wild garlic pesto? 

For those of you who are interested, here’s the recipe I used – it would be great to know if anyone else has made it.

50g wild garlic leaves

80g pine nuts

200 ml extra virgin olive oil

50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Blend all the ingredients, except for the Parmesan, together in a food processor at a medium speed.  Add the Parmesan and quickly blend everything together.  Bottle up and keep in the fridge.

Yum yum!

The Cairn at Walderton – March 2009

Originally uploaded by dog walker2008

The Cairn has had its ups and downs in the past year. Its been knocked down, rebuilt, knocked down again, had its flints pinched to create an arrow and the good news is that its now it back in a healthy shape (thanks to The Husband’s efforts).

I’ve been fascinated to watch it evolve with all its highs and lows – there’s nothing more depressing to climb the hill and find it desecrated. And in recent months there seems to be very few contributions from other people – I would have thought due to its size that people would have put the occassional flint on the Cairn.

This project constantly evolves so you never know what to expect when you turn up.

More wild garlic and bluebells

Originally uploaded by dog walker2008

I know we’ve got a few weeks before we see the bluebells and wild garlic will be flowering but cycling into work recently I caught the fragrant hint of wild garlic.

My big experiment this weekend is to make wild garlic pesto – I have no idea how its turn out but it sounds tasty. Apparently all I need to do is replace the basil with wild garlic, blend with olive oil, pine nuts and parmasean cheese, and of course there’s no need to add the garlic bulb. The big question is whether anyone will speak to us afterwards!

Any other suggestions for wild garlic would be appreciated – I’ve added it to new potatoes as well as pasta dishes.

I love this time of the year as you can see nature waking up before your eyes after a cold winter.  Change is so obvious and you have to stay on your toes to keep up with the unfurling of buds.  The dawn chorus is already waking me up before the alarm goes off.  And most excitingly, as I cycled home from work this week, I caught the distinctive scent of wild garlic.

And how can I forget I’m already sneezing so hayfever allergies is kicking in.

The signs of spring so far:

snowdrops, daffodils, primulas, crocus, wild garlic leaves, the first hawthorn leaves frogs’ spawn, woodpeckers in the early morning

Anything else?

The little dog has been lazy during the winter – he hardly ever joined us for the morning walk.  Who can blame him?  The sun was yet to rise, it was cold, icy and sometimes wet.  Where would you rather be – tucked up in bed or out battling with the elements?  If I had the choice, I would be doing the former, so basically I was envious of him!

Anyway, now the mornings are getting lighter, guess who’s joined us on the 6:30am shift – the little dog of course.  I can forgive him for taking the winter off as the chap is in his golden years (according to the vet).

Of course, the big dog has been with me every morning – nothing would stop him going for a walk

Every year on the second Saturday of February we have lunch with a particular set of friends – its been a tradition for the last 14 years.  The group evolves but the core of people remain the same.

They live on Ashdown Forest so the day out is also a treat for the dogs.  We arrive early so they get a quick run around.  Why is it called Ashdown Forest when there are very few trees about – it’s much more like open moor land?  No doubt I should look it up.

After lunch everyone goes on a longer walk – its always the same route but it never really feels like the same.  The paths get wider, move a little to the left or right to avoid an obstacle, sometimes they’re muddy, occasionally dry.  This year the foresters are clearing the bracken and gorse as well as uprooting the silver birches.  Some years the snowdrops and daffodils are out, this year everything is behind.  It’ll be a few more weeks before we welcome in Spring.  Judging by the iced puddles, Winter hasn’t shut its door on us yet.

It fascinates me how a seemingly static view evolves over time – you just need to remember to observe the small changes.

Its so easy to head up onto the Downs to walk … last weekend, thanks to the wet weather, I decided to take the dogs off to Hayling Island.  And what an invigorating change – thanks to the wind whipping across from the Isle of Wight. 

We’ve always favoured West Beach especially when the tide is out.  There was plenty of action on the beach – a cluster of eager kite surfers finishing off their stint on the waves, pebbles and sticks to be chucked about for the dogs (I know that I shouldn’t throw them but I just can’t resist) and lots of flotsam and jetsam to be eyed up.  It had obviously been rough out at sea as the beach was littered with broken shells and long legged crabs who hadn’t managed to survive the strong currents.

Even if the sky isn’t blue, there’s something so invigorating about the salt air… and its obviously contagious as the dogs love it… racing about on the sand, diving into the water, chasing the occasional seagull, and the little dog being the grumpy old man he is trying to mark everything in sight (including, very embarrassingly, the kites!)

Memo to self …. walk on the beach more often when the tide’s right.