- Uncategorised (225)
- 04/08/2009: Web site update
- 19/07/2009: Bricket Wood
- 17/07/2009: Wisdom teeth
- 14/07/2009: Flower walk to Totternhoe
- 11/07/2009: Ivinghoe Beacon and College Lake
- 01/07/2009: Ivinghoe Beacon nature walk
- 21/06/2009: College Lake
- 20/06/2009: Big in the Czech Republic!
- 19/06/2009: Another update
- 14/06/2009: Totternhoe nature walk
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
Milton Keynes Boundary Walk - Day 2
Today I did my second stage of the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk, from somewhere near the village of Hanslope to Weston Underwood, about 7.5 miles each way. A pleasant but not exceptional walk, mainly through a mixture of arable fields and cattle pastures. A short stretch through Selcey Forest was the only woodland all day. It was a very warm day (only second time this summer I’ve worn shorts) with the temperature up to about 25C. Lots of butterflies - Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Ringlet. Not so many wildflowers, though I saw my first Evening Primrose and some Borage, which I really like even though it’s a weed [EDIT: As Duxbury Rambler has pointed out, it’s not a weed at all! Don’t know where I got that idea from.]. Some nice views over the undulating landscape, and Ravenstone and Weston Underwood were attractive villages built from the local yellow stone. Ravenstone had many thatched cottages, too.
Had a problem where the path was blocked and impassable, the first time this has happened to me on one of these long-distance paths.
26/07/2007 at 07:02 pm
Borage a weed.
I have it growing in my garden and it makes a great addition to a salad.
Once attended a party given by a Mrs Bucket type woman, the ice cubes had borage flowers set in them and very pretty they looked and I remarked on how the borage plant was a herb to said lady, she almost choked and said no they came from south america - needless to say no more invites.
27/07/2007 at 06:22 pm
Sorry, don’t know why I thought it was a weed! Just checked my flower book and it says it’s a culinary herb, so I must just have got it confused with something else. Glad it’s not a weed - as I said it’s one of my favourite wildflowers! I probably like it because it’s bright blue and it’s got very unusual swept-back petals, making it easy for a novice like me to recognise it!
29/07/2007 at 12:53 pm
On Day 3 of my MKBW walk I came across two fields of blue flowers, which turned out to be Purple Viper’s Bugloss. Someone who later went to see them said there were also another two blue fields nearby, which were fields of Borage!
14/04/2008 at 08:31 am
The definition of “weed” is very loose, so there’s no sharp line between what is and what is not a weed. Anything that grows when/where you don’t want it to is a weed, and since borage is hardy and self-propagating, it grows wild. So, some people consider it a weed, and other people willingly cultivate it.
Just like heartsease/”johnny jump ups,” which my mother calls a weed and pulls up by the roots, while my grandmother plants it in her garden.
14/04/2008 at 08:03 pm
Thamks for your comment Virginia S.
I’m glad to say the wildflowers are now starting to appear again, it makes such a difference to my walks to see a splash of colour beside the path. Lesser Celandine, Violets, Bluebells, Wood Anemone and now Greater Stitchwort are all appearing.