Botanic Gardens - texture and form

This set of photos focusses on texture and shape...

Botanic Gardens - down by the lily pond

I'm still very slowly working my way through the photos from Zakynthos - I probably won't get very far till the weather cools down a little. But last Sunday we went to the Botanic Gardens in the morning, and editing some of those photos was a more manageable task. They have changed the parking fee from a flat rate to an hourly one, so we were determined to make it out under the 2 hour mark.

This set of photos is all from around the lily ponds - in full bloom and full of dragonflies, hawkers and darters.

June Favourites...

Not so many, as we were away in Zakynthos for two weeks. Once this heatwave passes, I'll be better able to get on with culling and editing some photos from our holiday. I'll add two at the bottom for now - a basket of pelargoniums in a little alcove in an old monastery wall, and a flight of stairs I spotted in Zakynthos town on our last day.

This month's blog header is a little baby bluetit in the garden last summer. I'm still seeing and hearing plenty of young fledglings in the hedge this week, and am trying to keep the water dish topped up for them.

The wedding card was a commission from a work colleague, with a request for those words, a butterfly, hearts and flowers theme and vintage if possible. The hearts were what I found hardest to work in, and they're pretty so small, so I did add in a pair of intertwined gold hearts on the box envelope as well as a larger butterfly.

Montmartre

And finally on Monday, we took the metro from the end of the main section of the Promenade Plantée over to Montmartre. By the time we arrived there the sunshine had come out, the skies were blue, and the day was warming up at last. We sat on the steps in front of the Sacre-Coeur and enjoyed the heat.
The last two photos are the Igor Stravinsky fountain near the Pompidou Centre. Alas, it was drained and dry - so maybe it didn't matter too much that at last my camera battery had run out and my spare was back in the apartment. Then it was back to the apartment to collect our luggage, and off to the Gare de Lyon to take the coach back to the airport.

Promenade Plantee

I've shared photos of this walk, partially along an old disused rail line, before. This was our last day and started out a LOT colder, and very grey and overcast. Walking was a good thing to do.