autumn colours

all blogged out

no, not a scene from the valley but an image of the stunning beauty of Monet's lily pond at Giverny which we visited on our recent travels via Santander, Haro, Alquezar, Rodes, Apchat and Chevreuse. It is reassuring somehow to see how similar our own beautiful valley can be to Giverny. And to realise that Monet was truly the father of digital photography.

Giverny

Kit Hill Quarry (!)

What with the wind and rain, poorly knees and Harriet managing to cut her hind leg badly it is time to take a break from blogging for a bit.

If you are visiting the blog for the first time there are many pictures of the Tamar valley and its flora and fauna within the blog, best viewed by using the labels in the list on the left hand side of this page, or by searching on a specific word or phrase.

We will be back when we are all strong enough to go for a proper walk!

woundwort and hawkweed

hedge woundwort flowers through to October and is often this deep purple. At this time of year most flowers seem to be yellow or purple. Below is a common but striking flower the brilliant yellow narrow leaved hawkweed.

a sawfly (or hover fly ... more research required) eating the pollen off the anthers of some late flowering wild honeysuckle

damsons

it has been a bumper year for wild plums. These are growing in the hedgerow at the bottom of our garden. The plums are called damsons, possibly because they originate in or around Damascus, and were introduced to Britain by the Romans (see Wikipaedia).

carletta comes to visit

Carletta came all the way from Maine to visit us. As you can see she was very easy to train, and we quickly had ourselves eating out of the palm of her hand. The woods and meadows are a bit drab at the moment, but it was nice to have a visitor. Anyone else for a guided tour? (please bring own biscuits).