Driving out in Lock down

As the new rules came into force, I thought I would give the car a little run. I only went a few miles to a village along the river. Usually there is hardly a soul about and I park by the village shop quite easily. Not so today as the area by the shop was full of cars and queues of people waiting to get in. The other place I can park is at the marina which has lots of spaces and a nice little tea room and clean toilets. Even the car park was still shut so I finally found a little spot in a side road and walked down to the river.

This is a part of the river that I haven't walked for a long while but it is very pleasant. I watched a cormorant diving and tried to guess where it would come up. I also saw a family of ducks with very new ducklings. At an old lock keeper's cottage there was a notice in the greenhouse that rhubarb was for sale. I have been used to having rhubarb growing in our last two gardens since 1978 and I suddenly felt I really wanted a rhubarb crumble so I bought some. I had to pay with contactless card though as they weren't accepting cash. So much for the old honesty box! The rhubarb is cooked and has crystalised ginger and sugar added and will be topped with crumble tomorrow.

I walked quite a way along the river then turned in towards a lake with fields around. Just one family having a picnic a way off so very peaceful. I then walked back through the fields and came back onto the road near the car. It seemed so exciting even just going a few miles somewhere different. The sun was shining too!

The elderflowers looked beautiful and I noticed lots of blackberry flowers so I know where to come later in the year for the fruit.

I might drive a little bit further next week and explore the next stretch of the river.