Amelia's photos

Unfortunately the 15th July is St.Swithun's Day, and we all know what that means: “St Swithun's day if thou dost rain For forty days it will remain St Swithun's day if thou be fair For forty days will rain na mair” So that takes us well into August. I wonder if the hosepipe bans will be lifted? ;-))) The PiP shows some effects of the welcome rain on our secret garden.

To find out more about this garden pleas look here: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/hampshire/west-green-house-garden When we visited at the beginning of July, everything was bone dry and plants were suffering unfortunately.

SC155 - Post 13 July - It looks like a letter The finger plate has been turned through 90 degrees. The first PiP is an 'r' The second PiP is an 'n'

I have posted this recent photo because it is of the last day when I felt cool this month.

The crest shows the The arms of the King of Scots at the gatehouse. Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, who took refuge there from political and religious turmoil of her times. To find more about the history of The Palace, look here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkland_Palace

Taken with my phone, so details not very good.

SC153 - Post 29 June - Local Wildlife This must be a second clutch, as many of the ducklings hatched this year are almost fully grown. The first Pip is taken by the same lake as the ducklings. A wide assortment of birds collect when visitors feed them on special bird food. The second Pip is of 2 mating green veined whites, I think, taken on Saturday afternoon in our garden. I noticed what I thought was a clumsy butterfly flitting around, and when 'it' settled, this was the result.

Umbilicus rupestris, the navelwort, penny-pies or wall pennywort, is a fleshy, perennial, edible flowering plant in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae in the genus Umbilicus so named for its umbilicate (navel-like) leaves. In this photo the leaves look a bit shrivelled, probably because it has been hot and dry for so long. There must be very little water collecting in the cracks of this wall.

We got to Powis Castle before the opening time, so it was possible enter at 10 o'clock sharp to get photos of the gardens, which really are stunning and well worth a visit, before the multitudes photo-bombed the scenes.

SC152 - Post 22 June - More Composition Rules 3. Layering Apologies for submitting an archive photo, but my garden is taking up a lot of my time at the moment. The searing heat and wind is playing havoc with many of the plants, the weeds though are thriving! ;-)

Happy summer solstice, or winter solstice if you are in the southern hemisphere.

1964 Pete Seeger - Little Boxes

Walking down to Hartland Quay was an absolute joy. Even the walk back up the hill to the car park seemed effortless because of glorious views like this. The best day of our Devon holiday. Geological upheavals were very evident in the cliffs here,