One of those days where I pointed my camera a lot at nice things, but didn’t manage to come up with many photos that I liked. But these cows will do — they look suitably ruminative and peaceful, a state of mind I am trying to occupy at the moment, even if mostly, I am failing.
The beetle negotiates the wood crevasse, in its funny little helmet (where are its eyes?) and feeling the way ahead with that unicorn horn, which is so protuberant that here it’s become annoyingly just out of focus. I have no idea what species this is; it’s not a European rhinoceros beetle as it’s the wrong colour and we’re not supposed to have them in the UK anyway. It was about an inch (2.5cm) long.
The redcurrants are getting there. Not that we get more than about two dozen of them annually, these days.
Digitalis purpurea, the common foxglove, always brightens things up at this time of year. Both its Latin and English names come from the way the flowers slip perfectly over one’s fingers; but as bees like to crawl up them too, don’t try this without checking first.
These kinds of things are universal, aren’t they. I probably had a similar look when seeing Joe off into town that first time.
This was taken on the Rochdale Canal in Mytholmroyd, making this the first time there have been two pictures in a row from outside of Hebden Bridge since March 10th and 11th.
I credit Clare as ‘spotter’ on this one. While on the allotment this afternoon she drew my attention to this insect and said, “Try getting a photo of this one.” And so I did. And thank you my love — I rather like the result. This grasshopper has a sense of nobility I think.
Enjoy the sunshine, as the Westerlies will be making their annual return in a couple of days. The woods over the road have become a vital source of space and fresh air, a place to clear the head in the morning and crank it up for another week’s work obligations. As I sat and cogitated, I looked up, and here was the view.
This is one of the very rare occasions on which I’ve done no post-processing to the image at all — this is exactly as the camera holds it.
It’s a bit out of focus but this was taken with a very long zoom and squirrels move damn fast, particularly up trees. The light’s good, though. This is the earliest shot in a day for three months, which isn’t saying much, but that’s life under house arrest for you.
“And stretch that right leg… hold it…. hold it…. feel those calves working!… and rest.”
A shame the bird’s body is a bit grainy but this was done on a very long zoom. And on a beautiful morning, as you can see. The blog’s third magpie, according to my over-detailed files.
The plum tree in the garden is warming up for one of its summers of abundance. It has hundreds of these little plumlets happily soaking up the sunshine. If you want fresh plums, come see us in August. Hell, you might even be able to travel by then.
Being 42 