As I departed Cornwall for the shores of Shetland at the beginning of June, the weather finally settled and moved into being the hottest June since 1884. Records broke in Culdrose just up the road from where I live at 32.2C and in Shetland it had the lowest temperature at 10.2 C. What a magnificent piece of timing on my behalf. Shetland was glorious and the birdlife was teeming but my hat and gloves rarely came off. Back home in Cornwall the shorts were being dusted off and suntans were being achieved with ease.
As always, the beginning of June gave us magnificent displays of colour and growth in all the hedgerows and Cornish stone hedges. This year the grasses in the field were higher than ever, the Cocksfoot, (or Cock's-foot), reaching above me and I am 5ft 6ins. The Hawthorn was still giving a magnificent show of white flowers along with its heady scent and the Ox Eye Daisies continued to tumble down the hill. The Comfrey was bowed down with the weight of its flowers, the Elderflower heads were in full blossom and the Mexican Fleabane was once again making a bid to take over the entire yard and any crevice in the out buildings. The hedges were strung together with Dog Rose and Honeysuckle, and at their feet were the warm displays of Foxgloves and Campions, the pinks glowed. In amongst the grasses were the Curly and Broad leaf Docks, one a pale yellow green and the other with reddish auburn coloured spikes. New to the field this month came the Birdsfoot Trefoil, Feverfew and the Common Fleabane. In the garden the roses were magnificent. And all around were buzzing and flying insects and small butterflies. The Bee colony that arrived at the end of May has decided to stay, they have built their home in the cobb walls of our barn, not their best idea but they are determined to stay. So far, inspite of living in close proximity with each other, it has been harmonious and nobody has been stung.
By the end of the month, the field and the garden were parched and bleached dry, baked by the hot, burning sun. The Creeping Thistle was present but not in the numbers we saw last June and they are smaller and less robust. I've been told that they do less well in dry, hot weather but does that mean that the hot summer we had last year has affected this year's growth or has the hot weather this June impeeded their growth? Someone, somewhere will know the answer but it isn't me. When we arrived here 7 years ago, the Docks were well established around the edges of the field, which was then being cut regularly for silage. When we stopped the cutting of the field their numbers swelled and for a while we thought they would take over the field. However, in the last two years we have seen a considerable decrease in their numbers without undertaking any action to precipitate their decline. Not so the Bramble. They march out from the hedges, long, strong hoops of thorns and this year they are covered in hundreds of green and red fruits promising us a good crop of Blackberries. By the end of the month some of them were ripe enough to eat and mighty delicious they were.
The political landscape sadly offers no such delights. A report from the RSPB this month states that the government has rejected amendments made by House of Lords that would have guaranteed not to weaken laws that protect nature and the environment, as part of the Retained EU Laws. And we continue to walk alongside rivers filled with human sewage and to swim in seas with the same, risking our health and all the surrounding habitats. And the pockets of the shareholders and CEOs of the Water Companies continue to fill up with our money. You really couldn't make this stuff up.
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