The flowers seem to be opening almost as you watch them with all this sunshine and heat. We've even had to water! I took my camera around the meadow and back yesterday and found another orchid, a very pale lilac, almost white. Butterflies teased me but when I approached they flew off.
the single pale purple orchid, it is just beginning to fade a little. The larger one with multiple heads is now past its best. The little white flowers are 'stitchwort'.
The sun has almost whited this one out. These sort come on rather thin stems and are prone to falling over occasionally.
The grass is at its best now in the meadow. There was a light breeze and the grasses waved to and fro. The path is one of Jim's mown paths through the meadow.
I had to trample down the grass around this little pine tree as I could only see the top shoot. It was about a foot tall when we first moved here.
some of the meadow grass against the amazing blue sky
Another grass, but one I haven't noticed before
lovely rust red sorrel and meadow sweet, not quite in flower yet
This meadow sweet is almost fully out
Purple loosestrife
Purple loosestrife close up
A sun kissed fern at the side of the allotment. Some of our ferns are ridiculously huge!
amazing daisies on the allotment
The fuchsias flower all summer long
A meadow sweet with the blue water butt behind. Love it!
wild flax, one of the wild flowers I have sowed and below is another one but I don't know its name!
The first two dahlia flowers have appeared
Buster
Buster enjoys running through the long grass and discovering lots of new smells.
Buster got too hot and flopped down in a heap
He doesn't realise he's far too big to sit on Jim's lap now!
what a couple of softies.
Swallows
As we sat having a cup of tea, we noticed a young swallow sitting on the electric wire. Then it started flapping and one of the parents appeared and fed it. This carried on for ages, so I went and fetched the camera. Here is the result:
Sometimes it seemed to have to wait ages and looked around for a parent
Here you can see the fledgling fluttering its wings as the parent approaches.
Isn't that just so sweet? The parent would whiz past in seconds so I had to be prepared to shoot quickly.Studio in the Garden
It was so dusty inside from Joe knocking out stones and concrete that I took my 'studio' outside:
The table was a bit small, but I managed.Slugs
It's amazing anything is still alive in the garden when you see this lot having a party!
Cats and Boxes
Cats just love getting into cardboard boxes, don't they? Here's Sandy inside 2 boxes in the garden:
At first, he lay on his back and attacked the sides of the yellow box!
Amazing Skies
I took a few sky photos too, some over Lough Graney and some towards the hill Maghera.
What a sky. If you click on it you can see the wind farm.
This was in the other direction and the black clouds billowed up
The lake turned pink and the water looked glass like.Art
I can't post the art I did as it's a surprise for someone. I'll post it when she receives the parcel.
Afternoon Tea
I took my parcels to the post and called into Mrs Broderick's house on my way back. Ann is the lady who runs the 'Mountain Cafe' as a charity. All food provided is for a donation to her sister's charity for children in Zimbabwe. Ann's sister is a nun and spends most of her time caring for the many orphaned and under privelaged children in Zimbabwe and every 2 years she has 3 months off. She is currently on her 3 month rest and was at Ann's, together with one of Ann's daughters from Dublin and her 7 month old baby, a delightful little girl called Jane.
Ann immediately invited me in and made me a delicious cheese and ham sandwich, a cup of tea followed by a gorgeous slice of rich fruit cake. What a treat. It was wonderful to meet Margaret, the nun. She was quite lovely and you wouldn't believe she's 65. No wonder she needs a rest every 2 years. We had a wonderful discussion about religion of course and laughed and chatted for over an hour. I do hope I see her again before she has to return.
Sad news today of the death of actress Farrah Fawcett from cancer and then the sudden death of Michael Jackson, aged 50. He was an odd character but I loved his music in the 80s and 'Thriller' was an all time favourite of mine. He was also one of the most amazing dancers I have ever seen.
12 comments:
I believe Buster was trying to get a sip of tea from Jim!!! Thanks for all the great photographs. The birds, the sky, and Sandy enjoying the box. I enjoyed them all.
Lovely pictures!
Here the weather has been wonderful!
I have worked in the garden 2 days.
You have such a diversity of plants and flowers over there!
Those orchids are fabulous
Why do cats love boxes so much?? One of ours get's very excited about boxes and attempts to pluck them like he would a bird!! (he's not very bright!!)
Those skies are magnificent!!
C x
The meadow looks lovely. Great sky too.
Great shots of the birds.
xx
I just love those orchids Gina, and all of your photos are simply gorgeous. Buster must be in his element with your garden and meadow to wander in. Seeing him on Jim's lap reminds me of our old labrador who thought he was a lapdog too! We had a cat who had to be coaxed out from under the floorboards during some work that was being done - they see a hole and go exploring.
Oh such lovely photos again! I called my children to come see the ones of the baby swallow. My father-in -law used to have swallow's nest on the verandah and the birds gave us endless entertainment, but we haven't seen them close since moving here. We have similar funny little pale orchids cropping up in the garden and they always amaze me, so fragile. I'm very pleased because I have two small rose flowers out yesterday! Yes you can laugh, but its really an achievement for this nettle-plot!
Oh yes, Mildred, Buster does love a cup of tea, especially if it's ours! I'm so glad you enjoyed the photos. I had a lovely time perusing your blog yesterday.
Marianne, I'm so glad you've had good weather too. It's rained overnight here but it's very humid. I think it's going to warm up again very soon though.
Rachel, I still can't believe we have orchids in the garden! It seems crazy.
Carol, that's just what our cats do too! They are funny, aren't they?
Thanks Jason, glad you appreciated it.
Heather, the orchids are gorgeous, aren't they? They pop up all over the place too. Luckily our floors are concrete otherwise our cats would explore any holes too!
I hope the children liked the photos of the baby swallow, Heckety. I did laugh at your 2 roses, but I'm sure there'll be more soon! Where abouts are you again?
oh yum, what a lot of smashing colour. Buster on Jim pics are ace!
Loved the idea of you working in the garden in your 'migrated' office!
WOWOWSER I absolutely LOVE that Meadowsweet against the blue background. GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS!!!!
Buster is not a lap dog. You did tell him this, right? lol
Cats are so funny about boxes.
It's too hot here to even stroll anywhere in the garden or prairie.
I'm melting, I tell you, I'm melting. Soon, there will nothing left of me but my sparklie red shoes. :( Bea
Thanks DK. I liked the Buster/Jim piccies too.
I thought you'd like the blue/white one Bea. We do try and tell Buster but he is a dog of little brain. Apart from the food section, that's huge!! I couldn't stand it so hot Bea, it's bad enough here.
Hi BT - interesting photos again and I see that like me you have taken some of grasses.
You ask about Mug monday and how it came about. Elizabeth of About New York suggested Plate Friday and when Acornmoon looked at the plate I posted she suggested a Mug Monday - we both advertised it on our blogs and lo and behold we had a huge response - that was it really. So if you have an idea for one particular day then say so and publish it well and we will all join in!
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