August Favourites

 are very thin on the ground - I made quite a few Christmas cards I was very happy with, but I don't tend to share those off-season. Apart from that, there are only these few that stand out as being favourites...

I just missed running over a caterpillar on the way home from work - and then went back to take a closer look at it. My sister and I both think it must be a white ermine moth. The patterning down its spine is quite beautiful.

The header photo is what I remember thinking was a very late moorhen chick. I had been saying that it was the first year I hadn't got to see any mallard (or other chicks) along the canal or in the park, and then we spotted this family down on the lily ponds. 

A Walk in the Park

 It was beautiful and sunny when I got up this morning to turn the griddle on for pancakes for breakfast. Not so much an hour later, but we still thought it would be good to get out and get some fresh air so we went for an amble in the park. Most trees are still green, certainly along the avenue I cycle along going to work, but there were a couple of young saplings that were really starting to show colour against a dense dark green background.

(A couple of photos are from earlier in the week. I had seen on Monday or Tuesday that they had cut the long grass in one of the meadow areas, and I was surprised the following morning to see that they had already baled it. I have a couple of photos on my phone - it goes without saying that when I brought my camera the next morning, it was much duller and more overcast and while the quality of the photos is better, they are not as atmospheric.

We were both struck by the reddish colour of the bark in this tree, and surprised that we hadn't noticed it before. I know we were walking in the opposite direction to normal around the pond, I don't know if that had anything to do with it. 

Juvenile tufted duck

July Favourites

 Not very many - it's been a busy month in work and I had a couple of family events on.

I appear to have no photos from last August - again probably because I was still in the thick of dealing with my aunt's house and that was taking all my time and energy and days off.

The hummingbird is a ruby-topaz, from the book of kirigami paper birds I bought in France a few years ago. The head and breast are base layers covered with tiny punched circles - but it went faster than I thought it might. 

This is cold off the needles, and very unseasonable. I used up a lot of the leftovers from various socks to knit a scarf for C. It was something like 500 or 600 stitches on the needle, as it's knit sideways. Nice to get a lot of scraps used up, although I had a bright red that wasn't suitable to incorporate. You break the wool at the end of each row and leave enough to tie the fringe, so there was practically no darning in of loose ends - a big bonus. Currently finishing off a pair of socks and I've just started a winter cardigan. 

France part 3

 Sunsets and the beach... sunset was about ten o clock, and most nights we went and watched it from the beach. There were a  couple of rainy nights when we didn't bother - one night  there was a tremendous storm with the whole sky lit up by lightning for the best part of an hour. I was glad we had re-waterproofed the tent last summer. The bird is a bin for rubbish, there was another one shaped like a fish, and one which was modelled on the traditional fishing cabins. 

The bathing huts weren't there for the first few days and I missed them, but then one evening we saw some wooden foundations being put down, and the next morning the huts were there. They were fairly cheap to rent for a week, and would have been great if you were staying further away from your home base than we were. 

France part two

 Talmont-sur-Gironde was founded in 1284 by Edward 1st of England (two years ago we visited a castle in Normandy built by Richard 3rd - one forgets how much of France used to be held by the English. It's a very small town (cited as having 100 occupants), and is totally pedestrianised which made it very pleasant to wander around. A little romanesque church dominates the town, and hollyhocks spring up all over the place.