puddleshark

Views of Poole Harbour from Stonehill Down.

The east wind finally dropped, and the sun very warm. Walked the hilltop with my coat tied around my waist, before taking the steep path down through the hillside woods...

Where the open grassland meets the edge of the woods, a carpet of primroses. Knelt to take the photo, went to stand up, forgetting that I was on a steep slope, and tumbled over backwards. Made a complete back somersault while clutching the camera in both hands.

*The judges award extra marks for degree of difficulty*

The camera is fine. I'm a little battered, but otherwise okay. And there was no-one in sight, so my dignity was spared.

Over the stile, and into the woods. Bird song and bare branches. Woodpeckers drumming.

No leaves yet on the ash or hazel, and the woodland floor carpeted in spring greenery: wild garlic and dog mercury, celandines and wood anemones.

A few Wood Dog Violets flowering along the path.

Toothwort, a parasite growing on the roots of hazel trees. Photo taken while kneeling in the wild garlic, with the pungent scent rising: maybe the scent will be strong enough to banish the spell of clumsiness that has been hanging over me all week. (Someone dropped their mobile phone accidentally into a bucket of water... It turned out to be not very waterproof. Back when I had horses, I was forever dropping my Nokia into water troughs. I would take it apart and dry it out, and it would still work. New phones are more delicate it seems.)