sister mattie

the beautiful Mattie, dreaming of seeing me again.

news from the ranch

Mattie being wished many happy go aways by her cattle.

happy birthday

.... it is hard to believe this was me aged 5 minutes. Thousands of cards and presents are arriving as I blog. Happy birthday to me and happy birthday to every one in the world especially Mattie, Meg, Vasco, Des, Frodo, Lily, and little Toby

One is a major milestone, now I can join the Army or the police, take my rabbiting test, go into pubs on my own, refuse to see the vet, go for walks on demand ... life has just begun.

hovering

meanwhile, hovering above us was this hefty chap, who I think is a Volucella pellucens, the males are alleged to "hover conspicuously at a height of 8 to 10 feet". They are said to be common but in my one year I have never seen one before.

Joys of summer

Down by the Tamar we saw a kingfisher, twice, once close up and brilliant, once at a distance. Watched over by this heron. To see a kingfisher in flight is one of the joys of life, and there must be fish in the river.

Tiffany by nature

this is the underside of the ever so rare heath fritillary. It turns out that several hundred hand reared butterflies were released four days ago because they had disappeared from this site. The pleasure of seeing and identifying them remains.

And my first birthday card has arrived. I love you Jess. Why is Harriet on the card??