The Week That Was

It's been quite a week, hasn't it? I weren't badly effected by the gales on Tuesday and Thursday. I was lucky that I didn't have to work until things had calmed down a bit on Tuesday and Thursday I had no reason to go out. The downside was that between the weather and returning to work I haven't been out walking much, although I do walk around the library, especially when shelving.

This weekend hubby and decided to enjoy the sunshine on Saturday by taking a walk on St Martha's hill, somewhere we haven't been for a couple of years. It is on the route of the ancient Pilgrims' Way and has a little church, St Martha's on the top, although it is thought it may once have been called Saints and Martyrs Hill. I'm not sure which came first, the church or the name of the hill. The church is thought to have been built in the 13th century, but much of it has been restored as it had become a ruin.

Today we walked around the RHS gardens at Wisley. We were greeted near the entrance by a robin singing his heart out and there were flowering plants such as snowdrops, primroses, camellias and rhododendrons here and there. There was also the hot house with some very colourful specimens.

On the ground level there was a fascinating display about roots. Apparently there is a strangler fig that grows in rainforests which grows around a tree blocking it's light and sucking up all the nutrients out of the soil until the tree is just a hollow shell.  The mesquite tree can grow in arid areas because it's roots can go down 30, and sometimes even 50, metres into the ground until they find water.  Then there is the mangrove, which can move up to a metre a year to find more light. The mangrove swamps in parts of Asia are important to prevent flooding, but the lure of cash from tiger prawns has resulted in some of the mangrove trees being chopped down, leaving the surrounding areas more vulnerable to flooding.