IDA IS ISAAC AND A RESCUED FROG

Oh dear.....I was so sure. Not a peep of any maleness when I've seen her/him before, but yesterday morning I was in for a shock as....er......Isaac had a dangly wee right in front of me.  I won't sully proceedings by showing you a photograph of the event, but the next one leaves no room for doubt. Where did that come from? It's lucky I'm not a vet really. Hopeless.

Clearing the garden of general detritus today, some still left from last year's dry rot nightmare, we found this frog in the watery bottom of a Land Rover tyre. It was very lethargic and made no attempt to escape, so we put it under a rotting stump, close to the tuppaware bowl we sunk into the ground for tadpoles and away from the little canine assassin in the hope that it will recover. I'm not absolutely sure what it is; Common or Marsh. It looks more like a Marsh frog with the eye ring and colour, but I'm not prepared to make yet another mistake! Any help here appreciated. 

This morning, Foal A was particularly frisky.....again. Look at him here; his mother was not amused. 

Another rescue today: a bee in the middle of the road, back legs so heavy with pollen that it couldn't take off. I put it on the verge and it was gone by the time I walked home.

The view towards Cosdon Beacon:

Snippet looking towards home....sort of. Actually, he was looking at Foal A to his left; worried about another confrontation.

This is the shelter belt that protects our tiny hamlet from the South Westerly winds:

Trigger thinking I had arrived with food today - I hadn't:

Sparrow in the hydrangea. No shoots on it yet.

Nuthatch bum:

And feeding. I have to admit to cursing them recently as they wake me up at 5.30am with their Guinea Pig-like call.

Great Tit:

Magpie:

I can't believe the weekend is already over. Snippet is lying, wet from a rainy evening walk, in front of the fire, as dogs should. Am idly watching the Antiques Roadshow while writing this and waiting for the final REALLY expensive item. Until next time, here's Snippet, about to take off at speed after something or other. 

FOG AND FUNGI

Just back form the Brixham schlep. What a nightmare it is. It took nearly two hours this morning and tomorrow I have to get Origami boy there BEFORE 9.00am.....help! Was awake from 4.00am this morning stressing over my route and rightly so it turned out; the fog on the roads was the worst I have ever driven in and people were scooting along at 80 miles an hour on the dual carriageway with gay abandon. When I took Snippet out this morning at 6.30am it was pitch black and so foggy that my torch just illuminated a stretch of white cloud in front of us. Snippet is basically tarmac coloured which wasn't helping matters. I gave up and tried to get my eyes to go nocturnal. Not entirely successful as I bumped into the verge on the lane and lost my footing, sliding to the ground and putting my hand into a crop of slimy fungi. Talking of which, apologies for not identifying the following but I just don't have the time at the moment. I will endeavour to do so at a later date. They look lovely though! There were more but the fog over the last couple of days has not been kind to the camera lens......

This one was 5 foot in the air on a beech branch

These too...

Some more foggy pictures.....

Middle Tor

I think Lizzy will be fine over winter! 

Number 10 is looking better for it being milder. He, number 2, Lizzy and their respective mothers, the bright bay gelding and the strange filly from the far left of my banner photo seem to have established quite a stable splinter group now

Fog dog

I would normally be out walking at this time but am waiting for the arrival of a new camera. I hadn't realised how much technology had come on since the manufacture of my 13 year old Fuji and thought it impossible to get something which will have enough zoom power to capture the elusive birds without spending many hundreds of pounds but it seems I was wrong. So £170 later and, wincing as I pressed the relevant payment button, I should soon be the proud owner of my third Fuji. Oooooo - it's just arrived! It may take a few days to charge it and work it out but I'll be interested to know what you think of the results. Right - I can go out now, having sullied the delivery man's computer thing with my kiwi fruity hands; I was just finishing lunch. Here are some other pictures from the weekend:

Mother and foal from another herd

Master of all he surveys

I love this one!

Origami boy (who doesn't feel the cold as you can see) and Snippet inside a fabulous structure someone built of gorse in a sheltered place by a wall last year. It's still standing but is definitely not waterproof!

I rescued this little frog from Trigger's water bucket; it had fallen in and was swimming around the bottom, unable to scale the vertical sides

This looks like a painting I think....

A Dipper on the wall at the bottom of the drive, taken through the car window with my little compact camera. I can't believe you can see it's a bird!

A sweet little female Chaffinch in Chagford. Given the lateness with which they fly off when being approached by cars, I've always thought they must have tinier brains than other birds. 

Misty mossy rock

Sorry for the photo overload - it's been a busier few days than I was expecting. Don't forget to let me know if you want to be entered for the draw for the drawing in the last post if you haven't already done so. I'd better see if I can get something done before the return of Origami boy after today's kayaking (not sure about that spelling) and abseiling. Rather him than me. I'll leave you with Snippet at dawn; until next time....