red damselflies

red damselflies mating at Tredis farm near Polbathic. These are common but we never see them locally.

on St German's quay

the viaduct over the river Tiddy, and the quay at St Germans near Polbathic where we went to see some paintings. Notice sunny weather, but storm clouds over home where we returned later to find 4 quivering poodles in fear of the thunder and lightning.

holly in flower

the woods are full of holly; this is a close up of the male flower so no berries later.

let's have some colour

the blog has been rather dull recently, all greens, greys and black, because of the weather. So we set out to find some colour today. The top picture is of rhododendrons in the woods (another non native invasive species), and below is an old fashioned climbing rose ... the one thing a photograph cannot convey is its beautiful gentle scent.

three cornered garlic

a small patch of this uncommon but invasive stranger. It is native to the mediterranean but is found in the South West, and on the coasts of California and Oregon (I hadn't realised Oregon was on the coast). So here it is in lower Downgate. The unmistakeable smell of garlic pervades the air around it.

our neighbours

our next door neighbours providing some colour contrast on yet another dismal public holiday.