Wednesday 31 August 2016

Fractured fruit

Split Cherry.  Canon S120
1st July 2016

We have had a few doses of heavy rain recently; the outcome has been that many of the cherries have burst and split :)

They still have a while to go to ripen; the birds have trashed them again this year already, so a harvest is not looking promising.

Footprints in dust

Dusty footprint.  Canon S120
30th June 2016

Lizzy's boyfriend, Jake, has been sanding the kitchen ceiling for us.

I have been meaning to finish the decorating ever since we had the extension built (over 6 years ago!)

There is a fair bit of plaster dust and the carpet may need a vac...

A currant harvest

Currants.  Canon S120
29th June 2016

I have circumvented the birds this year and managed to get a decent harvest of both red and black currants :)

Looks like it is going to be a spectacular crumble tonight!

EDIT: The crumble was sour as buggery!

Abstract: Raindrops

Raindrops.  Canon S120
28th June 2016

It has been a while since I took a picture that was specifically an abstract composition.

Today has been miserable and rainy; an ideal subject forming patterns on the window.

Green but heading black

Blackberries in waiting.  Canon S120
27th June 2016

There is much promise for the Autumn as there are stacks of blackberries forming.

Looks like it could be blackberry and apple crumbles on the cards :)

Ponds and a basking shark

Bosherston Ponds.  Canon S120
26th June 2016

We are in Wales at the moment and today had a very pleasant walk around Bosherston lilly ponds.

As we got down to the sands, there was an interesting sight of a Basking shark fin breaking through the waves.
Basking Shark.  Canon S120

Close Shave

Butterfly.  Canon S120
25th June 2016

Walking through the grass today, there were stacks of butterflies around.

I manage to capture a picture of this one before Xena attempted to eat it!   She missed luckily.

Clouds and dirty sensors

Cloud.  Nikon D7000
24th June 2016

Today was lovely and sunny and there were very few clouds in the sky.

The only major issue with photographing a bright sky, is that the small aperture used does show up the crud stuck to the sensor!

Time for a sensor cleaning session me thinks.

Fun for some ... gives others Nightmares

Clown.  Canon S120
23rd June 2016

There are many who love clowns, but for some, they exist only in nightmares.

Today I stumbled across an 'out of context' clown, parked and packed and waiting his turn to put smiles on faces.

Nugget

Nugget.  Nikon D7000
22nd June 2016

We have 3 new chickens: Nugget, Elbow and Sideboard.

They are not quite laying yet, but hopefully it will not be too long before we can stop buying eggs from the supermarket :)

Passing sun and toad stools

Solargraph.  Pinhole camera
21st June 2016

I decanted the solargraph today showing the passage of the sun from December 2nd to today.

The bottom shows that the late Winter and into Spring was really quite sunny this year.

The summer so far has not been bad either.

I also found some toadstools chomping on an old tree stump.

Toadstools.  Canon S120

The lions are back

Dandelion.  Nikon D7000
20th June 2016

The dandelions are out in force in the veg plot again.   Although they can be used as salad leaves, they help to promote some more 'yellow' across the garden.

Are we there yet?

Red currants not quite ripe.  Nikon D7000
19th June 2016

The red currants are just starting to ripen now.   They are still super sharp and not ready yet, but hopefully they will go a bit further and give me a chance to harvest before the birds strip the lot.

Basic Nut

Hazel Nut.  Nikon D7000
18th June 2016

The hazel tree at the bottom of the garden is showing promise.

There are a number of basic primitive nuts starting to form.

Fingers crossed, I may have to go crackers in the Autumn

Sunday 28 August 2016

Hardware

Screws.  Canon S120
17th June 2016

As the local foxes have discovered that chickens have frequented our garden, I am making the chicken pen rather robust.

Although I have a rather useful selection of screws, I wonder if I will run out of one section of the screw box just before I finish ...

Lashings

Lashing.  Canon S120
16th June 2016

I had a trip to B&Q today to fetch wood to build a chicken house.

I realised when I had purchased an 8' x 4' sheet of plywood, that the car is big, but not that big.

The roof bars came to the rescue though :)


Hiding the little Wrens

Wren nest.  Nikon D7000
15th June 2016

I have seen Wrens flitting around on the patio for a while, and something flew the other day, but only today figured out exactly where their nest is.

Above the patio we have a rampant clematis, and they have tucked their nest in amongst all the dead leaves.

Hopefully they will be back again next year.

Chasing Nectar

Rose and Bee.  Nikon D7000
14th June 2016

The roses are starting to come out in bloom in the garden.   I guess the bees are hungry as they do not seem to be able to wait for the flowers to even open fully.

Mow, mow

Hay, Olympus mini-mju
13th June 2016

Over the weekend the local farmers have been out cutting their meadows.

I guess it did not rain here while we were away at the festival.

Downpour Festival

Mud.  Canon S120
12th June 2016

The music today was very good, but the rain kept falling.

There were rivers of mud running down the hill by this afternoon.

Getting out of the car park was a real challenge; we just managed to do it without the aid of a tractor, but the car needs a serious wash now.

Ideas .....

Menu.  Canon S120
11th June 2016

While browsing the food stalls in the rain, I noticed that one of them was providing some good ideas for future puddings.

Given I use oats in the crumble topping anyway, I think the flapjack option may be a bit much.

The music today was fab as well, but it is still raining :(

Rammstein in the rain

Rammstein.  Canon S120
10th June 2016

Jo and I have headed to the Download festival this weekend.

Rammstein played this evening, with a rather spectacular set of flames and pyrotechnics.

The flames were very welcome to help add some warmth to the evening, which was bucketing down with rain.

Steaming Heap

Heap.  Canon S120
9th June 2016

It was chilly this morning for June.   The farm nearby has been doing a little landscaping and piled grass and turf into a large heap.

When I first saw it, I did not realise it was only grass and held my nose just in case.

It did not smell as bad as it looked after all.

Too late for Cuckoos

Canon S120
8th June 2016

There were lots of plant stems with foamy bubbles on this morning.

Some may say the Cuckoos have been around spitting, but I think it is really grubs finding a novel way to hide.

The sticky buds they have chosen to hide on rather like Muppet's fur though.

There is something lurking in the pond...

Leech.  Nikon D7000
7th June 2016

While scooping out the floating pond weed today, I noticed there were lots of little critters stuck to my hand.

After investigating one in more detail, I realised the pond is full of Leeches :)

After looking in close details, they only have two eyes at the front, making them Helobdella stagnalis.

They are only little and not capable of sucking my blood, but look out all you pond snails!

Growing yellow on trees

Laburnum.  canon S120
6th June 2016

As Spring gives way to Summer, the flowers are out in force now.

I was pleased today to see that yellow does grow on trees.

Friday 26 August 2016

Sets of Four

Elderflower.  Nikon D7000
5th June 2016

The Elder trees are thick with flower at the moment.  

Flowers have many different numbers of petals, but although each flower-let has 4 petals, the entire flower head has many more.

Would you like flies with that?

Roofbox. Canon S120
4th June 2016

We drove home today.   Although in the UK there has been a dramatic decline in the insect population, the organic farming practices in the area of France we stayed in is jam packed with buzzy things.

We managed to bring some back to the UK with us, but not in a viable form unfortunately.

Sailing on the cheap

Sailor.  Nikon D7000
3rd June 2016

We headed down the coast to La-Rochelle today.   We spent some time watching this chap trying to find an easy way to cross the harbour.

He had one oar he was using as a scull, but spent time attempting to use his brolly as a sail.

He got across eventually.

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Lighting farts and galloping horses

Viking Display.  Nikon D7000
2nd June 2016

We headed to the Puy du-Fu today  The displays were super spectacular, however this chap did seem to get the rough end of the display.

We saw the  roman display too.   Quite a menagerie of animals were on display, but they cleared them all out before the lions pitched up!   The chariot racing was fun; when you are sat in the stands.



Wall flowers

Poppies. Nikon D7000
1st June 2016

Having seen the poppies yesterday, I found many more today.  These few were set nicely against a cracking old stone wall.

Poppies in the Barley

Poppies.  Nikon D7000
31st May 2016

While wandering through the fields today, the ears of barley were nodding in the wind.

The poppies are making a fantastic display, but these few blooms had got a bit lost from the rest of their kin.

Cat on a hot tile roof

Cat.  Nikon D7000
30th May 2016

We headed out to one of the local towns today and managed to find a high vantage point.

This local cat could not care less however as it had found some warm tiles to sit on.

Drip, drip, buzz

Rain, Nikon D7000
29th May 2016

Today started a little damp, with stonking great rain drops falling from the parasol.

The sun came out later and the place was full of bees and hoverflies.


Hoverfly.  Nikon D7000

Heading South

Turbine, Nikon D7000
28th May 2016

We are on a short break and heading south across France.   We often stop for lunch and the picnic tables amongst the windmills is a real favorite of mine :)