It is not another selfie.
I was just taking a moment to reflect back on those lazy winter days, when the icy puddles cracked beneath our feet and it was dark by half past four. It seems so long ago now.
Old Man’s Beard towered over us in the hedgerow as Fizz and I struggled to retrieve a Wellington boot from the deep mud without putting a sock in the freezing water and everything around us was dead or dormant and the cold…. Oh how I miss those days.
Well, that is winter and it is summer now. You just have to be prepared to take the smooth with the rough.
It is small compensation, I know but I noticed today that Traveller’s Joy was in flower.
This flower has a lovely scent and grows in such profusion it is hard not to notice it.
This is Traveller’s Joy also known as Wild Clematis, Clematis vitalba it is native to the UK. In the winter when the seed heads hang in the hedgerow it is sometimes known as Old Man’s Beard.
A Tramp in the Woods 
I also miss the soggy socks and cracked fingers of winter. Don’t worry, it’ll be back.
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Thanks Emily 🙂
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That Clematis vitalba has become a big problem here in NZ
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Thanks Maureen 🙂 I have heard about that. It is not native to NZ and has no natural controlling agents. Even in the UK it can easily get out of hand but in our hedgerows it has really tough competition, Bramble, Bracken, Nettle and Bindweed, they are all terrible together. 🙂 and did I mention the Thistles. I am actually having to carry Fizz sometimes on our walks now because she just can’t get through it in places.
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Beautiful:)
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Thank you Gigi 🙂
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We have a similar wild clematis called Virgin’s Bower (C.virginiana) here in New England. My spouse calls the tufted seed “Who-heads” from the Dr. Suess characters – the Whos who live in Whoville with their wild hair that sticks out all over the place. 🙂
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The Traveler’s Joy is quite photogenic! A wonderful name as well. Oddly, the name makes me think of quilts. The old traditional block quilts have such wonderful names – Delectable Mountains, Dutchman’s Puzzle, Contrary Wife, Drunkard’s Path. There must be a Traveler’s Joy out there somewhere!
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