poppies

A month ago when I was walking in the village, I wasn't sure what had been planted in the field behind the church. I am so glad I went back to see what was growing,  a field of pale lilac-pink poppies.

The footpath goes right through the middle,

poppies almost as far as I could see.

The flowers look so delicate

as the sun shines through the petals.

I noticed a single wild poppy, it looked a bit overwhelmed by the competition.

These poppies are opium poppies and are grown for the production of morphine and codeine and are grown under contract to a pharmaceutical  company who control the harvesting and processing of the crop. The drugs are produced from latex extracted from the seed head and the poppy seeds themselves are used in the food industry. There can be many thousand seed in each seed head - thats an awful lot of seeds in these fields!

Solstice evening

These Roman walls at Silchester seemed a good choice for an evening walk on the longest day of the year.

This section is thought to have been constructed around AD 270 so these walls have seen many a summer solstice.

They are still impressive today but were originally much taller. Back then it was a very busy settlement but last night eldest son and I had the place almost to ourselves.

After a walk we sat on the bank inside the town walls and he made tea on his camping stove. A perfect way to end the longest day, drinking tea while watching the light fade.

Hello

I have been away from this space for a while so time for a quick catch up.

Here we are just a few days from mid summer although the weather has been far from summery. We didn't suffer from flooding during the recent rains although several of the roads from the village were closed for a few hours.

We are now a household of four again as university terms have ended. For eldest son it is the end of his final year (he did very well and we're very proud) so he is now back at home while he looks for a permanent job. The house feels very full, not only two extra people but all their university stuff, two more sets of kitchen equipment, two sets of bedding, more towels, clothes airers, irons, where are we going to put it all?

Also a little holiday just for two, this time overseas. I will post some photographs once I have sorted them but for now here is a clue to where we have been.