Lindybird: I love the idea of the Country Living tent - I could probably do a lot of $$$ damage there!
ForestBoar: Thanks for clarifying. Hope daughter can move there sooner than later.
Lynette: Ghastly situation for your bro with contractors peering in the windows. What a nerve!! My niece is going to Dorset (I had to Google Durdle Door) within the next couple of weeks with friends to look for fossils (they apparently got the correct tools after a previous trip!). I read Remarkable Creatures and loved it. I thought they were going to make a movie of it, but haven't been able to find if it was actually made. Love the idea of an ice cream farm! :-)
Take care all.
Thank you Annette for another new week. August? Already?
It is pouring outside this pm. Planes are taking off on short runway so we hear their roar. The worst of the weather has leapfrogged our suburb (our weather comes from the west) and has hit the foothills & Adelaide Hills. Numbers were down at church. Veggie soup & toast for lunch. I shall drool over Linda's flowers and imagine I am warm.
Good Morning Everyone, and thanks to Annette for starting us off again.
Dull here but dry. I finally got the last of my laundry dry yesterday, it's all taken an age. Surprised it's still raining in your neck of the woods, AQ.
Annette: You would absolutely love the Country Living Tent. People come out of there with lots of carrier bags! There are original art outlets, home made birthday cards, beautiful artisan jewellery, original clothes, hand knitted jackets, home cured hams, pies and cakes..... I bought a loose navy blue top from a Sale rail where the rest of the pretty blouses made me drool.
There are many Ice Cream Farms around here: the county of Cheshire is famous for their milk, and lots of the small dairy farms have now diversified in making and selling ice cream, yogurt and cheese.
Here's today's pic:
A chipmunk!
ANNETTE - thanks for starting the new week. This year is flying by!
AQ - I assume rain is good there - we are still getting more than we really want!
LINDA - first, an apology for yesterday - I think I called the Amaryllis "Alstroemeria" - can't think why as that is much harder to spell! We also have Ice Cream and Cheese Farms along the coastal plain where dairy farming continues - more beef cattle in the lower hills, and sheep higher still, but they come down for lambing in the traditional way. We are due to get some icecream from the local I-c farm this week - they also have a café with the most wonderful milkshakes!
I was really tired last evening and had a bad night. Even after I got up late, I still keep nodding off, so have not gone to church with OH. I feel really grotty and was afraid that if anyone asked me how I was, I might give an "inappropriate" answer. Around here, after saying "How are you" folk tend to say "You're looking really well" before you can answer! I apparently always look my best when I feel at my worst!
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Sorry you're not feeling too great, OG. Hope you can snatch a bit of shut eye today to recharge those batteries.
We're off to see Sis-in-law..... see you all later.
Good morning, all. I went to the annual Hen Harrier Day event at Rainham Marshes yesterday - if anyone would like to see a few photos you're welcome to click on Mr Packham:
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Thank you so much, Clare - lovely photographs and write-up. Reminds me of a magical evening walk in June near Duns in the Borders. My friends, keen bird-watchers, took to me to isolated loch where we watched two hen harriers hunting. No other people, but plenty of bird life - oystercatchers (heard before seen), and my friend was pretty sure he saw a distant osprey being mobbed by crows - my binoculars were not strong enough, but I trust his sighting. Osprey have been seen there fairly often, apparently.
Thanks for your pics and story, Clare - we need more interest in saving these beautiful birds.
Time for more pictures ----
A special type of carousel!
A bit dark, because of the rain, but to show the sheer size of just one part of the marquee.
More lovely blooms.
These were tiny alpines,too, and to highlight them they had used a colourful Chinese theme of decoration and display.
More...
I fell in love with these special daisies - I think they might have been grown from what they call a "sport" which is what happens when a mutation appears naturally in a plant, but then if they like it, they breed from it to exaggerate the mutation into something attractive to the eye.
Veggies can be colourful, too!!
A delicate rose.
More of the pretty daisies, on another stand.
Exotics!!
Lilies. (The smell was divine!)
Streptocarpus.