Sunday 23rd August 2026, 11.50am (day 5,477)
“And together now…. one, two, three, leg up and TUCK that head…. and now SLEEP.”
“Hang on, did we put anyone on watch? Ah, who cares.”
Formation sleeping
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: nature
Teasels
Friday 21st August 2026, 12.05pm (day 5,475)
Dipsacus fullonum has been used as a natural comb since antiquity, particularly to clean woollens and raise the nap on them (that is, make them fuzzy, like velvet) — and one can see why. One might even argue whether humans would ever even have invented the comb had they not had the teasel as a model. As seen in Raleigh Park, Oxford, just across the road from my accommodation here.
Flying mummy
Wednesday 19th August 2026, 3.55pm (day 5,473)
It might be a dragonfly or possibly a damselfly: apparently they are very similar. Whichever one it is, it’s a predator, and imagine (if the scales were different) this thing coming towards you intent on murder, for surely what it actually is, is a flying Egyptian mummy/vampire.
More free food
Monday 3rd August 2026, 1.45pm (day 5,457)
Vegetables sometimes grow in our allotment but in some years they don’t: it’s still not raining and 2026’s vegetable crop has been reduced to a few sad and scraggly-looking beetroot plants that may or may not have edible roots underneath them. But fruit: that, we can produce. After the loganberries and jostaberries, the next tranche of free food appears to be ready.
Kiveton Park
Friday 31st July 2026, 2.30pm (day 5,454)
I admire this kind of large-scale decrepitude and collapse. It is not that the whole of Kiveton Park Industrial Estate looks like this, but nevertheless, in my opinion this was the best-looking corner of it. Somehow it seems strange that this hangar is eroding from the bottom up rather than the other way around, but see for yourselves. (Pictured on my latest County Top walk — see the other blog.)
In flight
Friday 24th July 2026, 2.20pm (day 5,447)
In flight from the photographer, specifically. My reaction: “Woah! Deer!” Point. Click. I claim no talent — this is Fluke Capture of the Year, for sure. It’s even in focus.
Observing the bees
Monday 13th July 2026, 5.35pm (day 5,436)
Respect the pollinators. I know bees are ‘social insects’ but do they socialise, particularly? When two come together like this are they in fierce competition or is it more like, “Hey Bob: make sure you check out the bit just to your left, there’s some good stuff over there”?
I pick the title of this post because it’s not just me watching them, either. The blob to the right is not a blemish on the lens (of which I have plenty) but some other little bug hanging around, and unless I’m mistaken you can see a second one just behind the wing of the rightmost bee. As you can see the weather stays clement — very pleasant stuff I think, although the grass in the garden is starting to go brown.
Additional support needs?
Thursday 9th July 2026, 10.00am (day 5,432)
Whatever happened to its other leg it didn’t stop it soliciting donations of food this morning — not that I had any. There’s a guy regularly seen in Hebden who has only one leg but even he needs a crutch to get about, and as later evidence proved, this pigeon can still take off, propel itself through the air, and land perfectly competently. Its ASNs are therefore not too extensive.
More fruit (a lot more)
Tuesday 7th July 2026, 4.35pm (day 5,430)
It’s only ten days since I depicted the loganberries, but the fruit on the neigbouring jostaberry plant just looks so succulent at the moment, and there’s lots of it. I think I will try making jam with it. Jostas are a cross between blackcurrants and gooseberries and, according to the Bible (OK, Wikipedia), were first cultivated in Germany and first made available to the public in 1977. The original scientists can be assured that in the climate of Hebden Bridge their creation is doing very well.
Goose lunch spot
Thursday 2nd July 2026, 12.05pm (day 5,425)
These three looked like they were having an amiable little chat while nibbling on the foliage that is exposed on the weir in the centre of town. Why shouldn’t they get together for lunch? Like humans, Canada geese seem a sociable enough species — at least, with each other. (World Cup reference: Go Canada!)
Being 42 