I wonder if it tickles going along those rough stems?!
The Clematis Montana is coming into bloom.
The Saw Mill seems to be the usual 'star of the show', but the gate is beautiful too. I had a fabulous afternoon with fellow photographers and a group of walkers on a guided walk at Osmaston which included part of the Okeover Estate. The weather did not look promising, and we did have light rain but conditions improved for the latter part of the walk, so we didn't get too wet. I'll be posting an album on Picasa in due course, but have edited this shot for today's daily pic. For more info about the village and the estate click here.
Many thanks to TB at my photography club for organising it - the afternoon was so enjoyable I'm going to do it again on Sunday, but that will be at Lumsdale, near Matlock. Can't wait :0)
Rapeseed (Brassica napus)
Why are some weeds so pretty? This weed flourishes at the front of our house where it does little harm at the moment, but I remove it if I see it in the back garden. When we tidy up our neglected frontage it'll be firmly & decisively dealt with. It took a while to identify it via the www, and I am pleasantly surprised to find it shares my Dad's name, Robert. Its still a weed though, so its going, eventually.
From http://web.guernsey.net/:
Description - An attractive weed with glossy green, well-cut leaves, bright red-stems and purple pink flowers. It is very similar to its close relative, Little Robin, Geranium purpureum, but that is generally a smaller plant, and anthers and pollen are lemon yellow, whereas in Herb Robert they are deep orange.
Habitat - Likes fairly rich soil, and can be found as a garden weed, or on roadsides and wasteland.
Comments - A common plant in Spring and early Summer. It was used herbally to stem bleeding, and the leaves are said to lower blood sugar levels, so it may be of use in treating diabetes.
The reason Herb Robert flowers were in the house was that Jodie wanted to pick several different flowers and stick them to a sheet of paper to make a flower picture. The blossom in the glass had its stems carefully dried on a piece of kitchen paper so the tape would stick to the stems. She also picked forget-me-nots, a dandelion, a bluebell and a Californian poppy. The bud in the background is Clematis Montana.
Our acer perpureum has come into leaf.
And the lamium is in bloom.
I had a rare chance to get a shot of Rosie before she disappeared. Often she will be sitting quite still, I'll lift the camera to my eye, and she'll immediately walk away or out of the room, or behind the furniture. As it is so hard to focus on a black cat, I need her to keep still for a few seconds - she knows, so she moves.
This little critter appeared this afternoon on an old Belfast sink Jodie and I cleaned up ready for planting. Needless to say I grabbed the camera quick before he slithered away - he is so tiny!
That's Jodie's index finger to show scale.
See http://www.orlik.org.uk/HOMEPAGE.htm for details of the group, The Russians, a la Dr Zhivago.
Tomorrow, Oliver will become a Russian, just for the day. We shall be attending a re-enactment event at a history festival near York. He'll be joining a Russian re-enactment group, wearing some kit on loan, manning the machine gun noise box which replicates the sound of a machine gun on the battlefield, and also taking part in the grand history parade. He needed military-style boots and we found the perfect pair yesterday, soft leather so they shouldn't rub, and they were a good price too. Tomorrow's pic will probably be of the event.
Meanwhile - after we arrived at the B&B, we went for a stroll up the road towards a barracks (which is in the background here) and Jodie wanted her picture taken by the postbox, and Oliver joined her (quick - press that shutter!) and Mark did too. With recent proposed changes in the law with regard to photography and terrorism... a shot like this could land me in big trouble! Do I look like a terrorist to you?? ;0)
I decided it was past time that my hubby was blogged! So here is Mark, chilling in our conservatory earlier today.
Us girls, we re-did our nails today. I rarely wear nail polish, but for last Sunday's wedding Jodie and I both wore this shade, it was Jodie's first time. As it's still the holidays I said she could have her nails done again. She keeps very still while I apply it and doesn't move her hands at all until I say its ok. After they were done I dropped her off at a friend's house for afternoon tea with several of her school friends. They had a great time.
Our current neighbours have finally found a house to buy and so we may soon have new neighbours. We wish S, L, R & S much happiness in their new home and hope they keep in touch. We have been very lucky with neighbours here, we could not have wished for friendlier ones. When we moved here in 1995, Mrs N handed me a jar of home-made marmalade over the fence, and she had written 'Welcome' on the label.
Alex & Lauren, surfing the net, facebooking, etc etc... Since my brother married Suzanne yesterday I figured out that Lauren is now my step-neice, seeing as her Mum is now my sister-in-law. Wedding pics abound on facebook from almost everyone who attended the wedding seems like! When I arrived at Suzanne & Rol's house this afternoon Suzanne was just looking at mine on the Picasa page. Everyone had a great time, and they're all tired but happy ;0)
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