First bluebell is here!

Only a short walk today as I was working with umbers this morning and very little dries quicker than umber. I'm glad I went though, it's all change from Wednesday. I went up to the oldest, least maintained part of the woods, the part owned by the bluebells. Deep in the glades there are a couple of dozen bluebells in bud now. While I was squatting down looking at one there was a gust of wind and with it a hint of that sweet and subtle scent. I searched upwind and there it was, my first bloom of the year.

I know you're wondering why I'm so excited about a tiny flower but it means more than you can know. It means that glorious scent, it means a colour that you won't see otherwise and that cameras just can't reproduce, it means the weather has finally turned after an exceptionally cold and wet March, it means summer is on its way. The single flower is underwhelming; the glory of it is the clouds of flowers which will be here soon.

Clockwise from top left: Even the buds are pretty! The first puny bloom. Carpet of bluebells waiting to flower

As you can see they literally carpet the woods in great swathes. You won't get the full effect for anything between a few days and a couple of weeks yet but below is a not very sharp picture from the first year I lived at Runnymede which will give you the idea. I will take my experiments with panoramic photography up a gear when they are all in bloom together; today I have picked out spots to try 360º shots.