SHADES OF GREY

I refuse to allow a perfectly good phrase to be high-jacked so I'm going ahead and using it. Am feeling a bit like the skies we've had over the last few days but, funnily enough, their beauty can lift my spirits, so here they are. I noted recently that a previous post entitled 'Frisky Foal Number Two' has had SIGNIFICANTLY more hits than any other; almost double in fact. I fear this may be a depressing sign of the internet's primary use and I'll be interested to see if this one has a similar effect. Here are those skies.....

Hope they haven't depressed you too much. At least the torrential rain that comes with them runs off into the valleys and away from us. I really feel for those dealing with the flooding and other consequences of it.

Till next time.............a Snippet to cheer us up.

LONE TREE GALLERY AND OTHER BITS AND PIECES

What a busy week what with Origami boy's swimming gala in the outside pool (they must be crazy), school meetings, including one about pending sex education and seemingly no time to blog or draw. Never mind - the rain is pouring down now, I have a STINKING cold and the house to myself for a couple of hours. Time to share what I've noticed is an expanding collection of pictures of lone trees on Dartmoor. These are just our local ones; I love their melancholy quality whilst often having a dramatic feel too. They are very often hawthorns but sometimes Rowan or strange hybrid willow in the marshy areas.

This last one was taken yesterday at about 7.30am before the sun burnt off the mist.

The other day I went our looking for the ponies as I hadn't seen them for a few days and I found them sheltering in a local farmer's field which borders the moor, to the disgust of the resident sheep. The wall is broken down and they had all dropped in for a visit. Very naughty and they looked a bit guilty when I popped my head up over the intact section of the wall.

Disgruntled sheep

Foals one and ten together

Whilst walking next to a piece of marsh another day, I noticed this amazing moss, whose length/height was staggering. I've never seen anything like it. Perhaps you have! At some points it was at least a foot high. 

And a few other things we've seen this week..........

Common Darter Dragonfly....I think

Betty in the sun

Lizzy too

Those ears again

The herd too far away to get to

The leek flowers are still going strong

Here's hoping for better weather tomorrow. Have a good week, until next time.......

AN HOUR AND TEN MINUTES WITH SNIPPET

I took these pictures on a glorious walk with Snippet. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Those ears!

Rolling in something unpleasant...

The ponies on the horizon

As the grasses die, they go all curly 

Please excuse the moment when I nearly fall over during this film.....

I photographed the following in a boggy pool close to home; firstly a Southern Migrant Hawker  Dragonfly laying its eggs.....

......and secondly a  keeled Skimmer Dragonfly resting after a session doing the same

I love the casual way this Crane Fly is hanging on to the sedge

When we got back to the garden I noticed the first edible Autumn Raspberry....a crop at last!

Regarding the unidentified caterpillar in the last post, thanks for your suggestions. Whilst searching the net for it before giving up, I came across a fantastic blog that I think many of you would really enjoy. Caroline's photos of wildlife put mine to shame and she correctly identified the caterpillar as that of a Fox Moth. Do have a look at:

http://carolinegillwildlife.blogspot.co.uk/

And finally, have a good rest of the week until next time....