Sow's ears & silk purses

Last year our local council decreed that certain lanes in our village needed some new footpaths. This was good news as we sometimes streetwalk Mortimer, particularly in the winter, and the grass verges can get muddy or you are walking down unlit roads.  Unfortunately the paths have not been a great success, mainly due to the shoddiness of the work and materials used. A few inches of topsoil was scraped off, wooden boards laid to the sides and then the area was filled with gravel. No care was taken so sides are uneven, if the path crosses someone's drive no proper finish has been made so stones just tumble across and if there was an obstacle, for example an uncut hedge, there is no path. Finally all waste spoil was dumped (albeit vaguely levelled) on one of the ditch banks. If it wasn't a council project I think it could have been labelled as fly-tipping.

We don't usually walk this route in the summer, preferring the orchard, but the previous evening Mortimer had indulged in a spate of grazing the June drop apples making him very unwell. It was decided that a walk on the lead would be best. As we walked up the lane we could see a patch of pink in the distance, not previously seen. Getting nearer we realised that it was a large patch of beautiful ornamental poppies and it slowly dawned on us that we were standing where the spoil had been tipped. Further along the walk we found the front garden from whence the seeds had originated. I hope they spread as they won't harm the wild poppies and the combination is beautiful.

Mortimer couldn't see what the fuss was about.