Nicky and I go for a local walk

This was the weather which greeted Nicky and I when we set off for our walk this morning.  I seriously thought we were going to need a raincoat.  By the time Nicky had got her boots sorted out the very black clouds had scooted away but were replaced by a rolling mist!!!  This is mid-June and the weather is very unsettled.

On our Tuesday walks we try and stay in and around the village but taking roads we may not have travelled down before.  We started off walking towards Inea on the main road - this is standard but then we have several choices.  At the T junction there is a Jacaranda tree in full bloom, beautiful purple flowers - it looks stunning but when the blooms start to fall it is a right old mess - a great tree for someone else to have but not in our garden!!

Opposite the Jacaranda is a strange little tree which currently has next to no leaves but long seed pods which look like runner beans.  In the middle was one single exotic bloom - I thought someone had thrown an artificial flower there but on closer inspection it was real.  This is apparently the Orchid Tree or more precisely Bauhinia Variegata which, like Magnolia, flower before the leaves appear but generally in winter or early spring.  This is a new one on me and absolutely beautiful.

We walked down into Inea and then turned left heading towards Arodes on one of the back streets past a very imposing church-like building and then turned left again so we were heading back up towards Droushia but on village roads which we had not walked before.  

Our route took us out of Inea and on a road parallel to the main road from Droushia Cheese Factory to Arodes - this was fine until the tarmac petered out and we couldn't quite make out where the path should go but we could see and hear the main road from Arodes to Inea in front of us a way ahead so we set off in that direction.  Once back onto the main road we had to do a pitstop to remove all the seeds and burrs from our boots and socks.

Taking a circuitous route we walked past the quaint little church in Inea and headed towards the radar mast at the top of Droushia.  Along this road our planned path was nowhere to be seen (overgrown) so we decided we didn't want any more spikey socks so stuck to the route we have done before which takes us along the bottom of the radar and back into Droushia.

By this time the sun had burned off all the grey clouds and replaced them with large white fluffy ones.  It was a bit muggy walking and we were both a bit hot and sticky as we negotiated the long uphill towards the radar.

The reward for this was a magic view of Lara Bay in the distance.  Gosh it makes you feel good to be alive when you get out and about and witness the countryside around us which is so beautiful even if it is beginning to get a bit parched.  You have got to love a shot of endorphins or whatever it is that exercise gives you!

Once home and showered and changed I spent some time doing a bit of art - I cannot lie, I chose the subject of Interesting Skies but am finding it very difficult to produce anything of note.