Friday 1st June 2012
Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne for 60 years and
the whole country is celebrating her diamond jubilee this weekend. The last jubilee like
this was Queen Victoria’s in 1897 and it was for Queen Vic’s sake that the
traditional diamond jubilee of 75 years was brought down by 15years!
After an entire month of rain in April and some gloriously
hot summer days in May (over 25C!), the weekend the nation desperately wants to
be sunny and bright is forecast to be overcast and rainy!
Our village has a little something on each day of this
weekend; today a previously overgrown corner on the main road will be opened as
the Jubilee Garden with new brick paving, newly planted colourful plants, and a bench
and two chairs to enjoy the new space and colour. This afternoon the primary school children will snake down the
road for the official opening and to plant a tree.
Today is overcast; there’s certainly not enough blue sky to
make a sailor even a handkerchief never mind about the traditional pair of
trousers! But this morning was dry so Bella and I went for an hour’s walk in
pastures new.
Behind the Red Lion (closed) pub, turn right towards Lings
Lane, cross Lings Lane and we simply followed the footpath signs until we came
to familiar territory on Bylam Lane leading up to the main road through
Chelmondiston. From there we turned left on to Richardson’s Lane and found the
familiar cutting past the playing fields and home – by this time the white skies had started
to spit, just a little.
The intensely beautiful yellow fields of rape have
faded and only one or two plants on the edges of the fields are hanging on to
their yellow gowns. The bright red field poppies are springing up looking
incredibly startling against the summer greens on an overcast day. Even the yellow dandelions and weeds look
pretty against the new greens. The chorus of birds, none of which I can identify except the tuneful blackbird, didn't care that the sun wasn't shining and twittered contentedly, flittering backwards and forwards over seeding grasses and crops; their young probably calling for more worms, more caterpillars, more insects! The bees hummed in and out of bright flower heads and there was probably quite a network of mouse paths at the base of those rape fields - Bella seemed to think so!
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