Between blotch and blok

Haven't had the energy to post much this week: back at work (from home) but, after feeling completely better for a bit, exhausted and getting a dry cough (finally: I've had the last symptom). I have, however, got out for a walk each day for a bit. Hence, some photos (to test out the new phone's capabilities; the first good thing to note is that its heft due to the supersized battery makes it a lot easier to hold steady).

This one's from a section of the common I'd never explored. I think in the past I avoided it as the paths were overgrown and strewn with rubbish (including discarded sharps)> The entire common has been spruced up and the paths cleared and undergrowth cut back. It feels much more like countryside than wasteland. And, with the silence of shutdown, it sounds like the countryside too.

I tried this in black and white too.

This was the end of April: we'd had no rain for a while. Drought anyone?

The next morning I was out before the dew had dried.

The irises were particularly vivid.

I've tried, and fialed previously, to get a shot of these for a while. They are dangling from a very tall streetlamp in the middle of the common. Been there for months.

The trains haven't stopped, of course, but this shot sums up the stoppedness (yes, I think that's the word, if it's a word...) of current times.

I switched route for a day, mostly to see what the queues were like at the new Aldi, and came back via the busier common. Still quite empty, the cows grazing peacefully. (Actually most of the were crowded up by the exit onto Oyster Row, but they're friendly enough when you walk through them.)

No pictures from May Day. It was cold, damp, and I was feeling crap again. I bailed out of walking on the common partway through and took the route back through the estate. Kept my feet drier.

Today, however, trees. I'd've liked to have included the muntjac but I'm not that quick on the draw.