I know this isn’t the flower known as violet (genus Viola), but it’s certainly the colour. I bet these look pretty good in black-light. Taken on the one twenty-minute occasion on which I got out of the house today — the sun was shining, the Late May Fine Period is properly here, but I had work to do.
“Ssshhh. They’re asleep, I think. We can sneak in….”
“I feel scared. The water….”
POSTSCRIPT (feel free to ignore): You should have had a picture from London today. Specifically, I was going to go inside the Houses of Parliament for the first time in my life. However, thanks to an exquisitely timed cancelled train today — eradicated 10 minutes too late for me to get an earlier one — I couldn’t make it to King’s Cross in time for the event. So there was no point going. So Northern fuck up my day, and I get to just suck it up.
The annual outcrop of bluebells is another one of those recurring themes, and now is the time for it to recur. There seem to be a lot this year. I don’t think this picture captures the extent of the carpet, but I like the focus on it. One flower in particular is definitely the point of attention.
Sitting at a table on the forecourt of the Bay Horse pub in Oxenhope, I noticed this metallic-looking bug on the pipe next to me, took this picture, thought no more about it. Another one appeared in Clare’s glass, while fishing it out we discussed what species it was, had no idea. The decision was made that its colouring should be described as ‘bronze’. Then after moving on to watch the football, another appeared. Then another. Not swarms, but a constant stream. I still have no idea what type of insect this is, but there has certainly been a mass hatching of them in the Oxenhope area.
The annual outcrop of Canada goslings is usually good for a pic, and so it proves again in 2023. This was one of a family of four — six if you count the watchful parents — who at the moment seem to have set up home on the canalside marina.
This little creature is clearly used to humans, as it flew over and perched as close to me as any ‘wild’ bird has in recent times, demanding that I do its close-ups. The light wasn’t quite right — it would be nicer if its eye wasn’t in shadow — but I did my best to oblige.
Saying this is taken at Annandale Water is correct, but don’t imagine some picturesque Scottish glen. The Water does exist but is a mere puddle, and in fact the placename refers to the services on the M74. My morning was spent driving home, with this being taken during the only break in the 6-hour trek.
The group of humans and dogs who, on sunny afternoons like this one, generally are to be found occupying the seats out the front of the Railway Inn, are very much a pack. And for the canine members, like Diamond (in black livery) and Hugo, this is just fine, it fits their view of the world and each other. I like this portrait, it seems to sum up their character. I am letting it off the blob of flare on Diamond’s neck, too, which does not seem to detract too much.
I guess Spring is trying, a bit, and the blossom at the bottom of Keighley Road in town usually makes for a fine display at this time of year. With this being the first of three three-day holiday weekends coming up in May, there was also a general sense of relaxation about the day.
Pictured on the wall behind platform 1 at Hebden Bridge railway station. This is the fourth slug to appear on the blog, and while one doesn’t normally associate the slug, as a species, with the idea of dynamism, I think this one does give it a shot. It’s not quite the crab on that Prodigy album cover, but it’s getting there.
This was one of those shots where the crowning touch was not apparent until I uploaded it — namely the bees. They are not actual insects, of course, but drawn on the doors of the establishment (an ‘aparthotel’ I think) which lies behind these flowers.
Additionally, this looks like it will be the last shot taken with the Canon PowerShot SX740 camera I have been using since 18th August 2021. 20 months is not long for a camera to last, even with the daily usage that I give it: but it never really recovered from the St Helena Tarmac Incident of late January. It limped on for the next three months, and I am grateful for that, but a replacement was becoming urgent. If you’re interested in these things, today I picked up a Panasonic TZ95: let’s see how long that lasts. I think it will be the fifth (and certainly at least the fourth) camera to have supplied the artwork for this blog.
Being 42 