Monday, August 26, 2019

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. 

27 comments:

  1. Thank you for one more nice post. I don't usually comment but I see your blog almost every day.

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  2. Lovely butterflies. They do seem to love basking in the sun. Not a sighting of a peacock in my corner, one of my favourites. Love all your produce. My tomatoes and courgettes have been very poor. I did manage to get some freebie plums to make jam though. Enjoy your excellent drying weather. I should be doing batches of woollens. Maybe this week if the weather holds. B x

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    1. Later in the day the Valerian was covered in butterflies flitting everywhere Painted Ladies, Whites. little brown ones and Tortoiseshells. It has taken quite a while for the courgettes to get going but the tomatoes have been good this year:)

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  3. Lovely, all....

    We have seen hardly any butterflies this year. No crickets chirping at night. Worrisome.

    Realized about the crickets, when we had to meet my dental surgeon at 9PM, one night, to have packing changed. Up there crickets, were "singing." Realized, we don't hear them, down here.

    ✨🌻✨

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    1. Thank you, not many butterflies this season until the last few days when we have seen loads around the garden. There ae certain 'pitches' I don't hear now - crickets and grasshoppers in particular:)

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  4. I'm with you on staying in on a bank holiday, crowds are no fun! A lovely selection of photos, the Painted Lady looks very fresh, i've seen quite a lot of well worn ones recently!

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    1. I'm always one for avoiding crowds if I can, especially in hot weather. We've seen a few faded Painted Ladies too and a very raggedy Comma in the plum tree:)

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  5. You have been fortunate with all the lovely garden produce Rosie. All of my plums had maggots inside! It has been unbearably hot here up in the 30's and another day of it to come tomorrow. I can't wait for the cooler autumn temperatures. Great butterfly photos. I have seen mainly cabbage whites and painted ladies this year. I was blaming the snails for eating my dahlias but then I found caterpillars deep inside the dahlia mounds! It has been a great year for butterflies hasn't it? x

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    1. Some of the things we've grown have done better than others. It's the first time the tree with yellow plums has prouced fruit this year, we thought it was the same as the bigger one so it was quite a surprise. So many butterflies here over the last few days. I can never remember if it is dahlias or chrysanthemums that attract earwigs too as well as catterpillars. I've hardly seen any slugs or snails this summer:)

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  6. Lovely pictures. I've definitely seen more painted ladies than usual this year,though today I did see a couple of peacocks. They are gorgeous indeed. X

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    1. Thank you, yes Peacocks are beautiful aren't they? It seems to have been a good year for Painted Ladies:)

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  7. Your neck of the woods looks beautiful at the moment full of colour, butterflies, produce and freshly cleaned curtains. Sounds a perfect bank holiday. 🙂

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    1. Thank you, yes staying at home I've been able to sit outside and spot all these things and read a lot too - a perfect, restful bank holiday:)

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  8. A lovely blog full of good things. Home produce is very welcome and I too like to eat as much as possible in the raw state. Our two nectarines were a treat! We're enjoying a crop of figs - enough to give to people when they visit. I'm hoping the pears and apples will be ready next month and don't drop before they're ready to pick.

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    1. Thank you Linda, the plims have been lovely to eat just as they are. It must be wonderful to have figs and so many of them too. I love all the later fruits like berries, plums, apples and pears:)

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  9. Lovely photos Rosie. Coombes Valley looks a beautiful place to walk and I love the photo with the open gate :) Your garden produce looks delicious - and way ahead of ours - we were late planting! I have seen more Painted Ladies, Red Admirals, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshell this year than last and for me too Peacocks seem to have been the most numerous. Have a good week.

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    1. Thank you RR, yes Combes Valley is a lovely reserve to visit and gets better each year. There is quite a long Woodcock trail which we falowed one, I cant think that I've seen a Red Admiral this year yet but certainly more Peacocks and Painted Ladies than anything. Lots of moths too. One night there were four just sitting on the bedroom curtains - we'd left the window open because of the heat and they had strayed in. Hope you too have a lovely week:)

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  10. What a lovely post & all those yummy veg. Yes it has certainly been warm over here & I had to buy some shorts to wear. Take care.

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    1. Thank you Susan, I take itthat you are over here at the moment? Good to treat yourself to some shorts to wear especially ovr the last weekend. Hope you are enjoying your visit, have a wonderful time:)

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  11. The butterflies are quite a delightful sight.

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    1. Thank you William, they are wonderful this year:)

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  12. I can't imagine anything much more delightful than to have foxes and badgers visit your garden. I would love to be sitting there with you.

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    1. Thank you David, it is rather special. We've seen families of foxes come and go over the last few years and were aware that there were badgers about but had never seen them until this year. I'd always known about urban foxes but not badgers:)

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  13. Hello...am out blog walking today and spotted you on a mutual friends blog so thought I'd pop over for a visit. Always love meeting new blog friends. From your pictures it looks and sounds like you had some awesome walking and views. The butterfly pictures are amazing! It's so hard to photograph one, they are so quick and elusive. The Peacock one is very special. I LOVE to see butterflies, but we don't often...not like when we were kids. We're having a long holiday wkend currently and I need to get a good walk in. Going to add you to my blog list.
    Sandy's Space

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    1. Hello Sandy and welcome to my blog. Thank you for adding me to your list. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing the butterflies there have been som many late this summer. Peacocks are a favourite butterfly. I will pop over and visit you at your blog later today:)

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  14. Oophs, had something on my clipboard above and didn't realize I left you a link that isn't my blog, so popped back over. Sorry about that.
    Sandy's Space

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