Early sunlight....

Through very thick sunglasses.......

Another scorcher today - so spent it beside a natural pool up on Dartmoor and then back to a friend's house. This is what the house looks like through thick sunglasses on a very, very hot day.

A very hot day.......

I decided to go and get lost on my bicycle in Exmoor - pedalling over to Dunkerry Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor, then down the Exe Valley to Tiverton and back across to my start point buried in the woods near Ash Prior. Setting off at 7:00 am it quickly turned into a very hot day and I basted for more than a few hours.



Hills? Probably because they are there!




On the way up to Dunkerry Beacon I stopped at this spot where I could look down the Exe Valley. It's already hot and I'm not even a third of the way around. I think the cows have the best idea though.




Near the head of the Exe it starts out as a bright stream buried in the trees.




The Exe Valley is stunning at this time of year. The river itself meanders to and fro across it's narrow floodplain.

Near Tiverton it has broadened out some more and provides a very welcome opportunity to cool off.




Phew. This came suddenly as a welcome view as I crested a hill. Below me is Wiveliscombe and in the distance the Quantock Hills so now I know I'm within ten kilometres of 'home'.



Those last ten kilometres were not straightforward though as I had to find my way through a confusing maze of hedgerows and lanes - taking the wrong turn on several occasions. Eventually I arrived back at the car at 3:00 - just after the hottest part of the day.

Morning walk in the Quantocks....

Having taken it to the limit on the bicycle yesterday morning I decided to take a walk today to relax my legs a bit and take it all in.



Anybody fancy turning either of these into a jigsaw?

Today....

Cycling over the top of the Quantocks early this morning and stopping for a well deserved orange I looked up and experienced green vertigo.

Two weeks ago.....

Two weeks ago the woods on Exmoor were just at the tipping point between early and full blown spring. Walking down from Dunkerry Beacon I passed throgh this steep sided valley that allowed me to peer into the the tops of the trees rooted downslope. You can just see things are about take off - someaht late this year.