Monday Miscellany

Time for another Monday Miscellany as it seems ages since my last post.  Today is Bank Holiday Monday in England ,Wales and Northern Ireland and for once the weather for most of the weekend has been warm - a little too warm last night - and sunny. 

  As we try not to venture very far on holiday weekends I've been able to take bedroom curtains down and take the loose covers off a chair and wash them so that they can dry outside.  As we took the bedroom curtains down many of the curtain hooks had gone brittle and snapped so new ones were needed.  

We did have to pop out yesterday on an errand for a neighbour who is housebound so we popped into a local DIY shop to get curtain hooks to replace the broken ones, not one of the best places to be on a Bank Holiday Sunday.

This morning we were up early and went for a short walk.  The cloud was low and it was slightly misty and cool enough to feel comfortable. As we returned home the sun was just peering through the mist ready to appear fully to warm up the day.  

 Below are a mixture of photos taken over the last week on walks and in the garden.

 Under the trees at RSPB Coombes Valley Nature Reserve.  There were signs of the coming season here and there.

 Blackberries

Crab Apples

Fungi

There were also loads of Peacock butterflies, I've seen more of these than any other butterflies this year.

 Young bullocks grazing at Coombes Valley

There is something attractive about open gates.

Young Cormorant at Wesport Lake Nature Reserve. 

We walked around both lakes, went into the visitor centre for a coffee and walked around the larger lake again and the cormorant was still basking in the sunshine quite happy to sit and pose for photos.

From the garden

Both plum trees have produced fruit this year, the yellow plums are very sweet and the Victoria plums very rich and juicy.  The yellow ones have been eaten raw.  A plum crumble was made with the others.  Not enough to make jam this year as many were wasp eaten.

 Loads of tomatoes for salads, pizza toppings, ratatouille and pasta sauces.

 We have courgettes growing outside in the raised beds too.

Painted Lady butterfly on Valerian flowers. 

I was sitting close by in the cool of the evening waiting for Poldark and then Sanditon to start and trying to distract the black cat who lives over the road from trying to get into the house through the open doors.   I went to fetch my camera thinking that the butterfly would be gone by the time I got back but it stayed around for ages flitting from flower to flower and then resting on the warm, south facing brick wall of the house.  This morning I thought the Painted Lady had returned to the Valerian but it was a Tortoishell.

Foxes and badgers have been visiting the garden over the last few evenings now dusk is earlier it is harder to see them. We can spot the white tips of the fox tails and the white markings on the badgers' faces.