Into July

 It's July already and days are racing by

The garden is needing more water although we did have a very wet Monday, Tuesday was back to warm and sunny weather which was great for butterflies.  I'm pleased to say that when we walked over the fields the air was full of them, joyfully flittering and spiralling in twos and threes over the tall grasses.  We must have seen at least thirty of them as we walked, I lost count so it may have been more. They were mostly small brownish ones,  perhaps Speckled Woods and Gatekeepers plus the occasional small tortoiseshell and a Cinnabar moth or two.  You just can't miss the bright red as they flutter by.  There were also lots of little silvery moths that disappeared when they landed on a blade of grass and jumping grasshoppers. Paul always says 'just listen to the grasshoppers' but of course, I can't hear them,  all I can hear is the hissing in my ears from the Tinnitus. 

 

 

There are no photos as I didn't have a camera (the photo above was taken with my old camera before it packed up on me.) I doub't I'd have got many images anyway as they all moved around so quickly hardly settling at all. It was just such a joy to see them.

 

Since then I've had a new camera.  it's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ80.  It was a reduced end of stock one.  I'm learning how to use it. It's quite complicated. I will get there. The photo above was taken with it - and the ones below.

Of course we had to visit somewhere interesting so I could play with the camera.  A sunny morning, a garden walk and coffee and cake.  What could be better? 

 

Out and About

Yesterday we had arranged to visit friends who live in the North East Derbyshire village of Holmesfield which isn't far from the National Trust's Longshaw Estate.

We were awake quite early and set out a lot earlier than we had thought so had extra time to meander around the pretty town of Bakewell which is one of my favourite things to do.

We spent a couple of hours in their lovely garden, unfortunatley Ian gets very tired as his illness progresses, so we said our goodbyes, promising to visit again before the end of Summer and drove home past the Longshaw Estate and through Hathersage down to Hassop and the bookshop and cafe at Hassop Station.

 It was very busy!  Notices said to take a seat under the outside canopies and then order on line.  We assumed that one had to have a smart phone to do that so, as we only wanted a drink of tea or coffee, we moved on.

 The Hassop Station cafe, gift and book shop is on the Monsal Trail.  Just a little further up the trail is another place we have visited before, Thornbridge Hall.  We realised that we weren't that far away so decided to try there.  Oh, how different it was from previous visits.

We had been here before a couple of times.  We first visited on a friend's birthday and had a tasty lunch in the coach house and a wander around the lovely gardens and extensive plant sales area. 

Later the same year we met up with the friends I mentioned above and visitied the gardens for a second time. 

How things had changed.  The coach house is now only open for special events and weddings.  There is a new car park which takes you to a newly built cafe called Quackers and the plants sales area seemed a lot smaller.  

I expect the gardens are still as lovely as they were but we didn't go in this time as we still had about an hours journey ahead.  

There is a path up to Quackers from the Monsal Trail with some lovely views of the trail and the surrouding countryside from the old bridge.

At the moment I'm struggling with my smaller camera as my Fuji bridge camera keeps telling me to take the lens cap off, even though it is off, and won't let me take photos.  The smaller camera won't accept the date and time and wants me to put it in every time I switch it on so the only way to take photos is to leave it switched on but then the photos are all over the place and not in the order they were taken. All very irritating.  I may eventually have to look for a new camera.  I've had a look online but they are so expensive.  I'll eventually go and look at some when things feel safer.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

In the Garden

 Five things for this Friday from in and around the garden.

1.  It's time for Clematis, Sweet Peas and Roses.

2.  Strawberries are ripening fast.

There are many more to come.  Gooseberries will be next and then plums.

 

3.  A posy for the kichen table from the garden made up with Pinks, Chive Flowers, London Pride and Alchemila Mollis

4. The frogs have returned to the pond. 

Three have been spotted and at least ten newts too.

5.   A couple of months ago I told you the story of the Vixen rescuing her four cubs from a couple of gardens away where an old shed had collapsed. She carried them one by one through our garden to the safety of the school's little nature reserve which is just over our hedge.  We had seen three different cubs and wondered if the fourth had survived.  A couple of nights ago we popped the wildlife camera out overnight and the film above is what we captured.  Four happy, healthy cubs.  Well done Vix.

A Morning Walk

This morning we strolled over the fields not far from home.  It was breezy and cloudy but there was a warmth in the air and the promise of sun filtering through.  

The fields are looking wonderful at the moment and the different grasses were swaying in the breeze.  We spotted Crowsfoot, Foxtail, Rye Grass and Yorkshire Fog amongst the shimmering, swaying fronds.

A Skylark rose up in the next field and fluttered and sang before it returned to its earth bound nest.

Swallows skimmed across the top of the swaying grass, so quick and purposeful, collecting insects that were invisible to our eyes.

 

Down the lane the buttercup meadows were breathtaking in their beauty.

On the corner of the buttercup meadow the flag iris spread across the pond adding to the golden glow.

In the hedgerows the Elder bushes were bursting into flower.  

We saw many wild flowers too. Some of them below.

It feels like Summer is finally here.

Have a lovely weekend

First Potatoes

In February this year we found a large potato in the vegetable drawer that had long sprouts on it so we placed it in a flowerpot of compost and left it in the greenhouse.

Earliier this week the potato plant was dying back and looking ready to be dealt with.

Would there be any potatoes in there?

 Yes, there were.

 They are now in the vegetable drawer ready for meals over the next few days.

Not long afterwards we collected some rhubarb for tea.  Lurking in amongst the leaves was the shoot of a Horse Chestnut tree so it was pulled out of the raised bed still with the conker at its base.  There is a Horse Chestnut tree at the top of the garden next door.

It was probably buried there last year by a squirrel.   We planted it in a large pot.

 I wonder if it will survive?  We'll see.

 Meanwhile, in the garden,  Peonies and yellow flag Iris have flowered.

Elsewhere in the garden other flowers are mostly pink and mauve.

All for now.  I hope you all have a good weekend.

Five things for Friday

 1. Cuckoo

On Wednesday we booked an entry time at Trentham Gardens and walked around the lake this time taking the longer route into the woodland area, instead of continuing by the lake.  Whilst there we heard a cuckoo.  It called three times.  I was so pleased to hear it as I haven't heard one for years.  I was immediately back in the Derbyshire village I grew up in where the sound of the Cuckoo wasn't at all as unusual as it is now.  We could hear them as we went on school nature walks, down the lanes and into the woods.  They could also be heard over the houses in the village.  The sound of the Cuckoo overhead and the sound of the nesting House Martins in the eaves above my bedroom window are still there in my memories.

No photo of a Cuckoo of course so I offer you Cow Parsley on the banks of the River Trent instead.  It's one of my favourite sights at this time of year.
 

2. This year/Last year.  

This time last year, well 28th May to be exact, I took the two photos below.  Yellow Flag Iris blooming in the pond and the first strawberry ripening to a tempting red.  

 

This year the Flags have only just started to show buds and there are no fruits as yet on the strawberries.   Photos taken May 27th 2021.

It just shows how far some plant growth is behind this year.

3. Fox Cub

One of the cubs visited the garden without its parents watching what it was doing.  Below is a clip from the nightime wildlife camera.

 

I took the photo below last night about 9.30p.m. when there was still some light, the cub had ventured out on its own again but it wasn't long before the vixen appeared to watch over it.

 

 

 4. Reading 

I ventured to the library for the first time in over a year to collect a book I'd had reserved.  I waited at the door, as instructed by the notice in the window,  the librarian came and took my card and booked it out for me.  I could have gone in to browse the shelves but I decided to leave that joy until my next visit.

Coincidentally, the very last book I took back to the library just before lock down last year was also a Dr Ruth Galloway book by Elly Griffiths, The Lantern Men.  It seems fitting then that my first book to be taken out should be her next book in the series.  I'm really enjoying it although have to read just a couple of chapters at a time as my eyes get tired.  Although, of course, the book involves murder I love the history and archaeologiy side of the story and the comforting familiarity of the main characters and the style of writing.

5. 'NoMowMay'

We've been taking part in 'NoMowMay'. It hasn't been hard as the wet weather would have stopped us mowing anyway.  Some of the grass will be mown next week but some, at the top of the garden,  will be left for a while longer.

The birds and insects have enjoyed it. 

All for now.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend.