Wonderful boat-roofed shed

http://www.shedblog.co.uk/2013/07/04/the-winner-of-shed-of-the-year-2013-is-the-boat-roofed-shed/

Honeysuckle and Deer part 2

A pair of roe deer were near the honeysuckle stump that featured in this blog post in May. I had to run upstairs for my camera – must remember to leave it on the kitchen table overnight when deer may be spottable! – and missed getting a shot of the buck actually eating honeysuckle flowers, but I got some shots through a window (must wash that window more often!) of the pair of them.

The doe appears from behind the azalea

And she comes right round

 I thought those two pink bits in the photo might be Himalayan balsam flowers so I went to check. They are two last blossoms of the azalea whose flowering period, as you can see, is really over.

The pair of them hear the camera click and look straight at me.
They wouldn't have been able to see me because of reflections in the window glass.

And she blinks

You need to enjoy the soft mauve of the flowering Yorkshire Fog grass in the field beyond too.

The buck carries on towards the blueberry bush.
Very few berries ripening as he (or another deer) ate the flowers earlier in the year.

And he hears the camera again

A couple of days ago I wandered round the garden taking honeysuckle shots of where it grows elsewhere. So here follow "honeysuckle and x" shots where the value of x is variable. The deer have plenty to go at where they can reach it.

Beginning to open

Open and catching the light

The honeysuckle stump in summer

Growing up to the top of goat willow and holly trees

Honeysuckle holly and rhododendron

Honeysuckle hedge

Honeysuckle cherry and yew

As usual, the photos are clickable if you want to look at larger versions.

The development of a cloud hole at sunrise

This morning I woke before sunrise and looked out on an interesting sky. I was looking north-east and the clouds were scudding by quite fast from the north-west. Experimentally switching between two cameras, I took a series of photographs while a cloud hole developed. I'm not sure if it qualifies as a punch hole, but whatever it is called it certainly qualified on the waking-up fun side of life. The photos are clickable for a bigger view.

First the photos taken with my Panasonic Lumix GX1 with this lens:

P1

P2

P3

P4

P5

P6

Skimmed up to look at some higher clouds too at this point, enjoying the variety of cloud and colour

P7

P8

P9

P10

P11

P12

P13

P14

The following series taken with my Nikon D50 with Toad's standard Nikon lens AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED and lens hood:

N1

N2

N3

zoom in...

N4

zoom out

N5

zoom in

N6

Amnesty supports Edward Snowden

Glad to see Amnesty International has come out in support of Edward Snowden

The Woodshed Rose

Looking north(ish) from the back lawn

Looking south from the drive

Two colours of flower on the same plant. No idea what this rose is called officially.

Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade

Spent some time poring over wildflower books and peering through my 10x loupe and measuring and taking photographs of this plant this morning while the other members of the household snoozed on. 'Enchanted' to identify it as Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade (Circaea alpina). It's growing NE of the holding wall on the back terrace opposite the back door. The double petal flower measures 6mm across.

Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade (Circaea alpina)

I did take some shots of the whole area where the plant is growing but the light was too bright so I'll try again when the light is gentler.

Here are three – the one taken in bright morning light and two in the shade. The last one is from above.

Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade in sunshine

Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade in soft light with the ferny, mossy wall behind

Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade from above showing the gravelly soil it grows in. It is often wet here.

Some garden and some kid and grandkid news

This morning I went out to yank up Himalayan Balsam and dock and sorrel and brambles. The midges have not been too bad for a couple of days while it has been hot and dry, but the clegs, blast them, are fierce, so I was glad of my new midge jacket from Beaton's at Lochcarron

At the weekend I brought in some red clover and put it in a vase with some other wild flowers. This is what it looks like after it has been in water for a few days

Red clover

Grandsons

The surprised "How did that happen?' look on Manny's face
when he first rolled over always makes me laugh

Howie. Look what I just did!

And here is Howie, at nearly five months old, sitting up with the help of a toe grip:

More garden stuff

I was mowing grass and picking garden wildflowers while the men's final was happening at Wimbledon. Both these after I'd recovered from an over-reaction by my guts to something I ate yesterday. Coconut is the main suspect. IBS is yet another common 'side-effect' of ME. The flowers cheered me up.

Large bird'sfoot trefoil (the yellow one), Ground Elder (the white one),
Amphibious Bistort (I think! – the large pink one), and another pinky that grows well here.

Daughters

Toadlet spent the Wimbledon weekend with the Springboard Diver in Edinburgh. More about that later perhaps.

Springboard Diver persuaded me to enter some photos in the Royal Horticultural Society's annual competition. I entered three under the heading "Detail" and one under "Wildlife":

Heath bedstraw and moss (Polytrichum commune) by with a garden hose
that is 'stored' around an old tree stump.

Snow on lichen

Sulpur polypore fungus on old cherry tree

Grasshopper on chives and nigella seed head
(it seems to be smiling!)