By Ricky, on May 24th, 2020
My walnut tree © Ricky Yates
In my back garden there are three trees – an apple tree, a cherry tree and a walnut tree. You can see all three trees in this photograph, taken in early October 2019. The apple tree stands immediately to the side of the woodshed on the far side of the back garden. The cherry tree is on the left front in the photograph. Towering above both of them is the walnut tree, in the centre of the photograph, with its leaves rapidly turning yellow.
As you can see, the walnut tree stands quite close to my garden fence, with many of its branches extending over the adjacent public land, across which runs a driveway to the house behind my garden, the home of my neighbours . . . → Read More: My walnut tree
By Ricky, on July 24th, 2013
The Orlické hory from Masarykova chata © Ricky Yates
This post will be more pictures than words, in an effort to give a broader overview of the Orlické hory / Adlergebirge / Eagle Mountains. All the photographs are from our recent holiday in the area between Monday 24th June – Tuesday 2nd July. They stand in stark contrast to those illustrating my post from our earlier visit at the beginning of April 2013, in which snow was the predominant feature 🙁
The main mountain ridge of the Orlické hory oscillates between being just under or over 1000 metres above sea level, with Velká Deštiná the highest point at 1115 metres. Most of the mountainside is forested which means much welcome shade when walking and and a very unspoilt natural habitat. The downside is that trees often prevent the visitor from having a clear view over . . . → Read More: Orlické hory
By Ricky, on May 22nd, 2013
Pruhonice Zámek/Chateau and Park © Ricky Yates
In June 2012, Sybille and I visited Pruhonice Park for the first time. In my blog post about that visit, I said that, as we had only explored about a quarter of the park, we planned to return to explore more of it at some future date. I also mentioned that Pruhonice Park is famous for is its collection of rhododendrons which flower in May. Knowing this, a return visit in May 2013 has been provisionally scheduled for some time. Therefore this week, on my day off, we finally made our second visit and saw the flowering rhododendrons in all their glory. We also got to explore some remoter areas of the park.
Rather than writing about the beautiful rhododendrons in all their immense variety of colours, this is an occasion when one picture can take . . . → Read More: Pruhonice Park revisited
By Ricky, on June 21st, 2012
The Zámek/Chateau at Prohonice © Ricky Yates
Monday each week, is meant to be my ‘day-off’. But when I live on-the-job with the office next door to my bedroom, it is very difficult to have a proper day-off unless I get completely away from the Chaplaincy Flat. So I’m determined during these coming summer weeks, to take a proper day-off and get out and about to see more of Prague and the surrounding Czech countryside.
Therefore last Monday 18th June, Sybille and I made a start in making that determination a reality. We went out for the day to visit a place that has been on our ‘to visit list’ for quite some time – Pruhonice Park.
Pruhonice Park lies south-east of Prague, a little beyond the city boundary in the Central Bohemia Region. It . . . → Read More: Pruhonice Park
By Ricky, on May 20th, 2009 Šárka Valley © Sybille Yates
I am often asked, both by old friends in the UK and by new friends here in Prague, whether there are things I miss now that I live in a European capital city rather than the Oxfordshire countryside. I usually respond by saying that the only thing I miss is being able see fields and hedgerows directly from the windows of my home. But although I now live in an urban rather than a rural environment, the countryside is not very far away. Just behind the Pat’anka flats complex where we now live is Prírodní Park Šárka – Lysolaje, the Šárka Valley Nature Reserve, an amazing steep-sided wooded valley which once you enter it, seems a million miles away from the busy city environment even though it isn’t!
The main way to explore the Šárka Valley is on foot. There is a network . . . → Read More: Prírodní Park Šárka – Lysolaje
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