more coming down at the mill

I had an interesting conversation today with someone who knows about old mills. Beals Mill dates back to at least the twelfth century, with evidence of the oldest building in the foundations below the level defined by the arch with slates and a keystone (toolbox somewhat later). The plan is to incorporate the walls of the mill into a new house to be built on the site. The bridge (on the extreme left of the top picture) is now just visible from the lane behind the mill.

long tailed tits

We came upon a family of noisy long tailed tits by the Inny today. As you can see they feed mainly on insects; I think the bird on the left is a fledgling waiting to be fed. Bill Oddy describes them as pink lollipop birds because they have the habit of teetering on twigs and swinging slowly over like mechanical toys. They are very unafraid.

marbled moth

I find moths difficult to identify but this is probably a marbled minor, but I was struck by the beautiful feathery antennae

bees on the bush

the bees love cotoneaster so much that the whole bush seems to be buzzing when the small but obviously very sweet blossoms appear. Given all the bad news about bees it is reassuring to see so many of so many types.

pignut

the delicate frond like leaves, and the small white flowers of pignut, a relative of the carrot. The tubers are edible, and pigs were once trained to find them. They are also eaten by leprechauns.

woodland path

the bluebells are at their peak now, and the woods and hedgerows are a blaze of blue. I have always believed that bluebells grow better in dappled light, but they appear to favour the sunny side of lanes (middle picture) and there are great patches of bluebells out in the open on the coast (the blue patch on the left in the lowest photo)