I have been reminded today about the importance of memory and how the memories we have can be real treasures that enrich our lives. The things that happen and the things we do throughout our lives can shape us and help to define us and so it is important to hold on to important memories as far as we can.
Sometimes events or moments from our past might seem lost but they can actually be buried deep just waiting for a little prompt to bring them to the surface.
Today's pictures are just that. prompt for me. As a child I read a book called The Children of The New Forest by Captain F Maryatt. The book was first published in 1847 and the copy that I read as a child had been a book prize awarded to my mum in school some time in the 1950's. I loved the story of children growing up in the New Forest in the midst of the English Civil War, learning to become independent while their father was away fighting for the King. It ignited an interest in English History and it also touched something in me because I was lucky enough to live close to the forest and visited it regularly so I felt a connection with the children in the story.
I haven't thought about the book for a long time until this evening when I was selecting these images. While these shots were taken at Dunham Massey and not the New Forest they sparked a memory of the book and I can picture the children living in a cottage something like this deep in the forest with deer regularly visiting the garden. How idyllic!
At the end of our walk I turned to take a last look at the path down the mountain and noticed how beautiful the wall and gate are.
In the distance to the left is Tryfan at 918m. On this particular day it was cold and icy in places but in spite of the clear and bright conditions there were very few people climbing/walking its slopes. I remember my first visit to Tryfan about 20 years ago, it was really cold and covered in thick snow. I had trekked to the top with a group of friends and on the far slope on the way down we tobogganed part way on our rucksacks. Perhaps not the most sensible or safe method for descent but a heck of a lot of fun.
Today I have had a great day exploring a place called Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire and I took a number of pictures of the unusual rock formations which I will be sharing over the coming days but for today's blog I wanted to share one of my favourite pictures from my Canadian adventure.
I have posted several views of the Sleeping Giant and I don't tire of the view particularly as there are so many good memories associated with it. I really like this view of the sunset with the giant and the canoe it is such an evocative image. I hope that you like it as much as I do.
I really really love Bluebells. I have some very happy memories of walking in Bluebell woods in Kent with my parents many years ago and I love to see a massive spread when the flowers are in their prime.
When I was at Ness Gardens recently there were only odd patches of them so I couldn't get a nice shot of a big spread so if that's what you like as well then have a look at this link which is a great picture of bluebells near Preston (and if you like that picture have a look at some of the other pictures of flowers by the same photographer, they're really very good).
For these shots I got right down to ground level and risked getting stung by the emerging nettles but it was worth the risk because I think they're great shots.
