Helen got me a book called “Wild flowers and where to find them in the Chilterns”, I had ordered a fondle slab 3 from John Lewis for pick up at 2pm, and the two things came together in a walk from the book starting at Sonning Eye.
We were up relatively early for the second day of a holiday and after putting back together and tidying the newly decorated dinning room we headed out in the car at about 10, towards High Wycombe, then towards Marlow then Reading. We crossed the river Thames at Sonning, parked in a public parking space opposite the French Horn Hotel at Sonning Eye.
The walk heads away from the river up hill then parallel to the river towards Shiplake, and along the river back to Sonning Eye.
We left the car at 11:10, and headed towards Botany Bay, along Spring Lane, we followed the permissive path off the A4155 north east. We had 3 target plants from the book to tick off. Cuckoo Flower, Garlic Mustard, and Summer Snowflake.
We had soon ticked off Garlic Mustard, which Helen spotted in the hedgerow in Binfield Heath village. From there we headed along the footpath passing through Shiplake Copse to Shiplake village.
The Plowden arms www.plowdenarmsshiplake.co.uk was a welcome pit stop for a beer and a sandwich. Helen had a chip butty and I had a fish finger sandwich. The food was well cooked and the staff friendly and welcoming. Suitably refreshed we headed out to hunt for the elusive two.
Take the road opposite the pub which goes down hill to the river skirting Shiplake College grounds. On the way we looked in a church with very ornate windows. Give that it was the most unholy day of the year it was no surprise that the church was quiet and empty. Down at the river a few canoeists were taking a break break for some lunch. We spotted a trio of mandarins, two male one female. The female only had eyes for one of the males though, and there was a bit of a Mexican stand-off going on between the two males.
As we headed through the boat sheds I spotted the Summer Snowflake flower which turned out to be bigger (12 inches tall) that I expected. So it was one all in the flower spotting competition, we just had the Cuckoo flower to find. We spotted an Egyptian Goose as we headed into some woods and I spotted the Cuckoo flower on it’s own about 12 feet from the path. Looks like I won 2:1. Helen denied that I had ever mentioned that it was a competition.
Along the river I got some great photo’s it is funny how adding some water to a picture makes all the difference. Eventually we arrived back at the French Horn pub and jumped back in the car to head to John Lewis to pick up the Fondle Pad 3.
John Lewis was busy but we did manage to see a shop assistant to order a blackout roller blind for the newly decorated spare bedroom. We now have only two more rooms to go and we have a whole house; the box room and our bedroom.
Once home the Fondle Pad was quickly unpacked and connected to the Wifi. It is a thing of beauty, the new screen resolution makes all the difference.