BITS AND PIECES 3

The last couple of days have been thick with mist up here on the moor but the bees have been busy nonetheless. Today is much clearer than yesterday and the garden is humming.

                                      

Trigger is hopping about again so the poulticing continues. One day he's fine, the next he's not. The vet thinks he keeps stubbing it and to keep going. I'm giving him some Frankincense (Boswellia Serrata) for the pain; I found it very good for my old horse's navicular disease. 

Here are a selection of photos from this week.....

Common Speedwell.....not so common up here:

Moss flowering:

Honeysuckle:

Hawthorn flowers:

This lichen was almost metallic which isn't quite coming across - beautiful though:

Heath Bedstraw at last. It's so tiny I've had to wait until the clumps have spread. A bit of Tormentil in there too:

Rowan is flowering everywhere:

Great Tit. This one had just visited the seed feeder but I wasn't quick enough!

This Chaffinch lady though............caught in the act!

Sparrow babies:

Huge colonies of tadpoles in our neighbour's very large pond. The newts were on the prowl so we wondered if they might be clumping together, like shoals of fish, applying the principal of safety in numbers.

No idea what these water plants are but they looked amazing in the late afternoon sun. Any ID offers gratefully received:

Yesterday's thick fog:

Sheep....

A Wheatear:

White Jacob's Ladder in the garden:

Lady's Mantle flowers:

Snippet today:

Foal B:

The weather has cleared now and it's a beautiful evening. Have a great weekend and until next time, here's Snippet in one of his 'master of all he surveys' poses.

HIGH WINDS AND THE JUBILEE

The winds have been staggering for the past couple of days. The strength of the majestic trees is amazing as they flex to the point where they should break, but don't. I say that but, on the way to town to buy some bread this morning, we encountered two enormous beech branches filling the road. A couple of phone calls later and the local farmer came up with a tractor and disposed of them like so much kindling. One was at least 18" thick and the road had been completely impassable. It showed how much power a tractor has when needed. Sadly, I'd left my camera on the desk at home having been changing coats through the previous day due to constant drenching. 

The Jubilee was celebrated with the Tinners' Fair in Chagford on Saturday where my son and other pupils at the school performed a fantastic puppet show. Chagford was made a Stannery town in 1305, hence the Tin reference. It was a lovely day with the threat of rain that never actually arrived. On Monday we watched the Two Hills Race rather than run it. It's been going for 35 years and is a gruelling slog up and down Meldon and Nattadon Hills, mostly over stumbly rough ground and a section through a bog. 

Enormous puppets of the Queen and the Tinner made by the pupils of Chagford Primary School

As usual, the half term holiday has restricted my walks and I have reverted to my role as social secretary and taxi. Birthday party and friends over while partner and I have tried to restore the kitchen after building works have finished. A series of minor disasters involving a slight size disparity between Ikea and other company's units have meant progress has been slow but tonight we had use of the sink for the first time in weeks. Hooray!

The gale force winds have had a rather detrimental effect on the garden. Huge clumps of wood Forget-me-nots, Columbines and my particular favourite, Billy's Button (Water Avens) have been flattened. Nothing I can do other than cut them back and hope for a second flush from the Billy's Button. Nice posy on the newly scrubbed kitchen window sill though.

Billy's Button and Columbines

No work with Trigger this week but back to it next week in earnest. Rug on yesterday thanks to 'unseasonable temperatures' and torrential rain. I had my winter waterproof gloves on too. I had to include this beautiful Jay's feather, sadly the result of a predator's meal. Jays are very plentiful here and we often see them, despite their reputation for elusiveness. 

Just a few more photos from this week and I'll hope to have more to tell next time.

Glorious view

Heath Bedstraw flowering everywhere. Used between bed sheets in the past because of its beautiful smell of vanillary new mown hay when dry. I tried drying it but sadly that smell is eluding me....

Leaden sky

Have a lovely week.