MORE OF SNIPPET’S FRIENDS AND AN UNIDENTIFIED CATERPILLAR

Apologies for delayed posting; our internet is a disaster having changed provider. I wish we’d never done it. At this time of day (early afternoon), we get around 0.5 mbps but by the evening it can be as low as 0.25 mbps. That’s almost a dial-up speed. VERY cross with company who keep blaming the socket but it was fine before we changed. Anyway, enough moaning although perhaps a little mention of the weather…..one day it’s drizzly and cold, the next it’s glorious sunshine.  My body thermostat is very confused and I keep finding myself stranded in totally inappropriate clothing.  The weekend was lovely for the shed building, which took about 8 hours; marginally less than the square footage of the shed. Some nasty cold drizzly days in the week and back to summer today.  

I left the shed construction to take Snippet and his friend Finnian for a run that day, where they expended more energy than I can believe a bowl of dog food could possibly contain. 

Snippet had a play with Lizzy and Foal number 5 over by the marsh yesterday which I took a film of. Apologies for poor quality!

Once they had tired him out, Lizzy came over with Foal number 3, who now looks like a Shetland, for a nuzzle with him. Interesting how she behaves differently with her various companions. I disturbed two Snipe while out there by the way but I’m afraid they were too fast for the camera!

On the way home, I photographed this caterpillar. I spent some considerable time on the internet and with my nose in books trying to identify it, to no avail. I would think it’s a moth rather than a butterfly but who knows. If no one can help I’ll have to send the picture to one of those identification places I think. Here it is:

In the drizzle and wind yesterday, Foal number 10 did NOT look happy; all tucked up and tense. I’m off to see if I can see a mark on its mum today and I’ll try and get hold if its owners before the weather gets really bad. Here he is looking cold and a few looking happier the previous day.

Yesterday, I saw the consultant shoulder surgeon at Exeter who has referred me for some saline injections into the joint under a local anaesthetic rather than the nightmare operation at Torbay I cancelled back in July. Hooray! I’m so glad I didn’t go through with it as this sounds much less violent and no general anaesthetic thank goodness.

And finally a few more pictures from the past week:

Shenanigans in the herd yesterday

Foal number three. His legs really are that short.

Snippet's favourite gap in the hedge for staring at next door's cats

Fabulous sky on Saturday

Bee and Blue Calliphoria Fly (possibly Protocalliphora Azurea) on that very popular pot of marjoram

Drizzly web in a dead hawthorn

A dead shrew I found this morning

Have a great weekend if I don’t manage to post again before then. 

SUNSHINE AND SOCIALISING

What a week! Much taxiing around of my son and picking up of his friends. A birthday party today and another tomorrow with lots of late nights and related grumpiness the next day! He’s usually asleep soon after eight and would kill me if he knew I was saying that. I’m writing this with the Olympic build up on the telly in the background. I feel obliged to watch it and am hoping that my bah-humbug feelings will be blown away by the extravaganza. I’m really looking forward to the sport though, particularly the gymnastics; Nadia Comaneci was my absolute heroine as a little girl. I spent a lot of time during the summer holidays of 1976 twirling around on and doing handstand dismounts off a fallen tree in the grounds of a beautiful house in Surrey where my mum was teaching a course. I was Nadia Comaneci competing against my friends who were Olga Korbut and Lyudmila Turishcheva. Those days at that fabulous house called The Hallams, Norman Shaw’s last project, are some of my happiest childhood memories. So, apologies for not posting or visiting other blogs very much. I’ve barely had time to check my email. 

Last Sunday, my half sister and her husband came to visit. It was lovely to see them and we went for a lovely long walk in the baking heat. There is a shepherd’s hut that I rarely make it to on my walks but is a reference point we refer to as ‘the tin hut’.

After actually having a look inside we walked on to another landmark I’ve always wanted to get to. A little oasis of trees next to the river that eventually becomes the Teign. It was utterly beautiful. We then got very wet picking our way across what would normally be ground dry enough to walk over at this time of year but was actually pretty boggy thanks to the incessant  rain of the last months. Not enough sun cream to avoid pink upper arms all round!

Over this week of beautiful weather, most mornings have produced a strange meteorological  phenomenon. This picture shows clearly what appears to be a belt of mist over most of mid Devon. It looks like it stretches from around Crediton all the way up northwards to where Exmoor rises up and then again beyond. It was stunning but burnt off pretty quickly. This was taken at about 7.30am.

Yesterday when I went to see Trig in the morning, I noticed something was wrong with his eye. It appeared ragged but not bleeding in the lower lid. The vet came to see him and said he’d probably caught it on some barbed wire and that, luckily there was no damage to the eye itself. He has some antibiotics and bute to bring down the swelling and should be okay but I need to try and keep the flies off it. It’s the only reason I’m glad the weather looks like it’s turning. The flies have been unbelievable here in the sun. This attractive picture was taken this morning after the swelling had gone down a bit. Look away if you’re squeamish!

Here are some other pictures from this week:

A swallow ground feeding outside the back door

Kestor in the sunshine

Foals trying to get some shade at Middle Tor

Snippet in the morning sun

Cows relaxing this morning

A dead shrew - sorry about this one but I just thought it was so interesting to see its little body and beautiful tiny claws!

Posting is proving as difficult as I had thought but I’ll really try to do so as often as I can. I miss it and I miss reading your comments and your own blogs. I’ll have to try and stay up a bit later as I’m usually off upstairs by 10.00pm. Hope you’ve enjoyed the weather if you’re in Britain and that the Olympics prove enjoyable if you’ll be watching and not too intrusive if you’re not. Till next time…..