Posted in Gardening, My garden, Uncategorized, tagged flowers, Gardening on August 24, 2011|
Snail among Hydrangea petals...
Hydrangeas are usually glorious in late summer (July/August) here in South Wales, but this year has been disappointing.
I guess it has been the combination of weather over the last few months – short hot, dry spells and longer cool, wet spells.
Definitely mould on this Hydrangea in August...
The very (more…)
Posted in Dorset, England, History, Uncategorized, tagged dorset, History on August 22, 2011| 6 Comments »
The smart grenadier of Wimborne Minster
This little man in a red coat is easily overlooked but I spotted him on a recent trip to Wimborne, a lovely little East Dorset market town I used to visit a lot as a child, since my grandfather lived there.
The town lies where the rivers Stour and Allen meet and its full name is Wimborne Minster – minster meaning an important church, although the word originally came from the Latin word for monastery. More pictures and a bit of history further down this post…
But to return to the little man (more…)
Posted in Birds, Nature, Uncategorized, tagged birds, Nature, wildlife on August 21, 2011| 20 Comments »
A small white egg shell I found on the lawn this morning...
This morning I thought there was a small puff-ball fungus on the lawn, but it turned out to be this white egg shell, round-end up when I first saw it.
Knowing nothing, I first guessed (more…)
Posted in Gardening, My garden, Uncategorized, tagged Gardening on August 19, 2011| 11 Comments »
Caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly (Pieris brassicae) on a juicy nasturtium leaf...
I haven’t the heart to kill caterpillars, although I usually expect the garden birds to help out a bit!
At the moment (more…)
Posted in Dorset, England, Garden visits, Gardening, tagged dorset, flowers, Gardening, Summer, Trees on August 13, 2011| 2 Comments »
Kingston Lacy, near Wimborne, Dorset
Kingston Lacy, near Wimborne in East Dorset, has a bit of an ancestral connection for me, although sadly not with the wealthy Bankes family, who owned the great house for more than 300 years.
My 3-great grandfather was a woodman here in the 19th century. For this reason I have put a gallery of Kingston Lacy pictures in my blog’s “ancestral places” section and this is just a short post to point to it.
Agapanthus on a sunny August day in the garden at Kingston Lacy
Today Kingston Lacy is run by the National Trust.
Please click here to come with me on a walk through the gardens on a very hot and bright August day.
Posted in Dorset, England, tagged dorset, Poole on August 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »
A pair of magnificent Honda Goldwings…
I am just back from a stay in Poole, Dorset, and have many scenic pictures to share, but I thought I would throw in this little post about the Tuesday night motorbike get-togethers on Poole Quay.
Bike night on Poole Quay, with Brownsea Island in the background…
The events are held from April until (more…)
Posted in Archaeology, Dorset, England, Nature, Uncategorized, tagged archaeology, dorset, flowers, Nature, Summer on August 9, 2011| 11 Comments »
The approach to Badbury Rings, near Wimborne in East Dorset, in August 2011
Last week (August 1) I was in Dorset and without any planning in advance I found myself going for a walk around the Iron Age hill-fort of Badbury Rings.
Agrimony at Badbury Rings
As well as its archaeological value, the area is home to a dozen or so orchids – not (more…)
Posted in Gardening, My garden, Uncategorized, tagged flowers, Gardening, Summer on August 6, 2011| 7 Comments »
Crocosmia Lucifer in the garden in July
I love Crocosmias – the big red variety called Lucifer lights up our garden in July, continuing to glow in the gloom when dusk falls and all the blues and greens fade to grey.
A close-up of Crocosmia Lucifer - it's such a vivid red in bright sun that it's hard to photograph...
Lucifer is an (more…)
Posted in Art & Design, Childhood memories, Nostalgia, Uncategorized, tagged design, Nostalgia on August 4, 2011| 13 Comments »
The All Saints window in the Hayes, Cardiff
I think I must be in possession of the only old Singer sewing machine still in the wild. All the others have been rounded up and herded into the windows of All Saints fashion stores throughout the land.
My Singer sewing machine - with apologies to Henri Rousseau's Tiger in a Tropical Storm painting of 1891...
My mother’s machine still (more…)
The Squirrelbasket 