27th April - Day 42 - 'When the gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season'

I am really hoping that it is Gorse in the picture and not Broom. I know gorse has the spines and broom doesn’t - but I wasn’t going to explore to find that out - and it seemed to be a nice picture to take anyway.

The reason why I want it to be gorse is because I know it is often said to be a symbol of love - and I thought we could all do with a bit of that. The saying above is apparently an old saying from Ireland that derives from gorse appearing to bloom all year long (because of different types of gorse flowering at different times of the year.). What I didn’t know (until looking it up) is that its association with love meant that, in the past, a sprig of gorse was added to a bride’s bouquet.

Gorse is also a very effective wood to burn because of its high oil content. Interestingly, when I cycled back yesterday, everything looked so parched that I worried about the risk of fires starting on the moorland. Not really knowing at the time about why gorse is an added fire risk, - perhaps we should all be pleased it has rained today. If it could just be dry and sunny when I’m going home?