great pleasures in life

great pleasures in life, a little BBQ, hot dogs, very old armagnac (the oldest thing in the house) and vin rose. The armagnac has been decanted into a superior brandy bottle because the cork had given up the struggle. Spot has always wanted to post a letter from the place where the armagnac was bottled.

more from the meadowsweet

meadowsweet is coming out everywhere now, and with valerian and honeysuckle, fills the byways with the heavy scent of summer. Do you long for the times when the only air freshener was a stack of meadowsweet, and a hot dog?

at the valerian

a horse fly, refuelling for a day's torment and biting

foxglove lane

It has been a very good year for foxgloves. The hedgerows are full of them. We have moved on from blue to purple and mauve.

not much is happening this side of the Atlantic. At least it is not raining. So here are some geraniums (ii? ia?) and a goldfinch on a peony in our garden jungle.
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tufted vetch and flea beetles

the tufted vetch in close up and the flower showing clearly that it is in the pea family. I love the light blue of the lower lip of the petals. And below some flea beetles (species uncertain) procreating on an appropriately named dock leaf.


ps maybe dead nettle leaf beetle chrysolina fastuosa, found thanks to the wonders of Google image