Chez ma tante...

I went out to Greystones today, to find out all the things I need to know when we go to dog-sit for my aunt, like how to set her alarm, how much to feed the dogs, what day the bins go out and so on. She was saying that when she lets the dogs out in the night she leaves the door ajar enough for them to let themselves back in, but she wasn't sure how I'd feel about that, especially as we'll be sleeping at the other end of the house to her (it's an old cotttage - you go in the front door, and apart from the front porch and the conservatory, all the rooms are just in a row, one after the other). It didn't bother me in the slightest when I used to mind her dogs all of twenty-something (but not quite thirty) years ago, I'd sleep with the back door open all night. Now I am not so sure.
Anyway, it was a grey, grey, grey day. Bray Head was shrouded in cloud. Even Coolagad was shrouded in cloud, and it's barely a hill. But I still managed a few photos.
Isn't this clematis a magnificent colour.  It's Clematis alpina Francis Rivis.

The SCS photo challenge this week was something alive - animal, insect, people. I couldn't find anything except the robins and C the day the challenge was posted, but today the bees were out in force. One in the clematis, and one in wild garlic. It's not such a good photo (dark cloudy day, OK?), but I like how you can see the little back leg clinging around the petal.

The lichen was growing on the back of a road sign. I hope it's still there when we go out to stay, I think a close-up would make a great tree-line.

Lilac - this garden always looks beautiful, I always stop to admire it when I am walking past.

And finally some pink clematis growing along the roadside.