Lunch with an Admiral and a Lady

It was so warm in the garden today that we took our lunch outside.  At first there was a Red Admiral fluttering about – but by the time I picked up my camera, it was gone.  I did manage to take these of the Painted Lady.

A Slow Day

I managed to de-frost the freezer AT LAST this morning and whilst waiting for the ice to melt, I slipped out into the garden.

Like this snail climbing on the fennel I, too, am having a slow kind of day.

English poppies in October?

We had a lovely time with the Willow Lady at the extremely entertaining Michael McIntyre show in Bournemouth last evening.  He was on stage a full 2 hours and barely paused for breath!    Imagine facing 4,000 people and having the daunting task of making them laugh for all that time.

Driving back through Dorset today we spotted this breath-taking sight at Fontmell Down.  Do English poppies normally flower in mid-October?

Magic moment by the canal

It has been such a glorious day in Wiltshire.

The day started just before 7am when I threw on my clothes and met my friend for our now (almost) daily walk.  It was extremely misty and the air was damp.  Once we got going, we decided to do “The Hill” – a circular half-hour walk involving a bit of puffing! 

After breakfast and a shower, I noticed that the sun had started to break through.  Another old friend phoned to confirm she’d be with me around midday.  So, before then, I managed to do some hoovering and at last cleaned the outside of the front door and porch which were covered with a load of cobwebs and resident spiders, not to mention a layer of black dust.  Not a good look on a white front door. 

When M arrived, she suggested a walk of a mile or so to a local canalside cafe and we set off in gorgeous warm sunshine.

En-route we spotted a heron standing quite still on the edge of the canal bank.  We walked up to it and stopped within about a foot or so.

We stood there transfixed for several minutes.  It gave a quick sideways look and we thought it had spotted us.  With a deft flick of its head, there, right in front of us, it caught a fish and ate it!  We just couldn’t believe that this was carried out at such close proximity.  We could have just reached out and touched it.

We were gob-smacked – what an amazing sight .. I wonder whether it was this one?