And pine cones dropping at my feet.

Autumn colours beginning to appear in the woods... #woodland #forest

Lovely cool breeze in the woods this morning. #woodland #forest #SurvivingSummer

Happy to have a slightly cooler day here. I hope it is cooler for you too. Especially thinking of all the courageous fire fighters who are protecting our precious #woodland and #forest wherever they can #SurvivingSummer

Early coffee-break in the woods this morning. So fortunate. I hope you have space for peace and beauty in your day too. #Quiet #BlueSkyArtShow

Shady path on a sunny day. #SurvivingSummer #woodland #forest

Here on a path shaded by chestnut trees, you can see the dry earth, busy with their fallen catkins. #woodland #forest #SurvivingSummer 2/2

Today, as the heatwave resumes after only a week's easing, the sweet chestnut trees are covered with fluffy stars of yellow catkins. I've never before seen them appear all at once like this. #woodland #forest #SurvivingSummer 1/2

Late evening in the woods. #woodland #forest #summer

Too hot in the woods today, even under the leafiness of old chestnuts, beeches and oaks. #Summer has overthrown #spring. #woodland #forest

Larch cones - young and old - today in the woods. You can see why they are also known as 'larch roses'. #woodland #spring #forest

Horse chestnut blossom! #spring #woodland #forest

Last to the party, and most beautiful of all, the sweet chestnut offers her leaves to the sun. #woodland #spring #forest

These oak leaves which two weeks ago were glowing translucent in the sun, today are glossily reflecting the beautiful light. #woodland #spring #forest

Dappled. #spring #woodland #forest

New oak leaves, and young acorns, in the woods today. #spring #woodland #forest

New copper beech leaves, lit up by the sun today. #woodland #spring

April evening in the bluebell woods. The smooth-barked beeches on the left in a cloud of new leaf, while the ashes to the right are still bare. #spring #woodland #forest

... And the bilberries all ripening up nicely. #woodland #spring

... And the first sweet chestnut leaves beginning to appear. #woodland #spring

Silver birch catkins, in the sun today. #woodland #spring

Beautiful young beech leaves in the bluebell woods today. #woodland #spring

Parrot tulips enjoying the sun today. #spring

Holly buds. These will be the flowers that make next winter's berries. #spring #woodland #forest

Also #new in the woods: bluebells at last - their blue so dark against the sun-illuminated-green and autumn's faded leaves. #blueskyartshow

#new in the woods this week, nestled beside a fallen trunk: lesser celandines. #blueskyartshow

I love larch trees - for being deciduous conifers - and for their pale trunks and feathery hanging branches. Here they are today, in their fresh spring-green foliage. #woodland, #spring

I turn my back for five minutes, and spring runs her gentle fingers through the winter-wood of stark conifers and stiff holly-trees. And every silver birch, whether old and mossy or young and spindly, says 'yes, I'm here', and reveals herself in a cloud of softest green.

A spring evening at the entrance to the woods. #woodland. #spring

These still-bare branches against the vivid sky somehow capture today's fresh April beauty. #spring #woodland