BLOG BIRTHDAY WISHES AND CATCHING UP WITH....me!
We had a great time and rounded the evening off with a MacDonald's.......Manda had a kiddies Happy Meal because she wanted the toy!!!!!!
In "ghost busters" mood we decided to walk home via the old church which is reputed to be haunted..........Ladies if you are of a delicate disposition please avert your eyes....it was really dark and when I said I needed to put the "FLASH" mode on my camera to take a photo of Eadie Chris took me literally........
We told each other a few ghost stories and didn't get home till 11pm!
Friday I went to Colchester to see Leanne & co. We saw the slightest glimmer of sun 
and it didn't actually rain......a first for quite a few days..............
Leanne's Phygelius (Cape Fuchsia) has started to bloom......
We walked back through..........
I think I messed up one of my settings when I was looking for the flash mode on Thursday evening as some of my photos have come out very "blue"!
Such a shame as the colours of the petunia "mounds" by the bandstand aren't showing up very well.......
The Star and the Moon displays were beautiful..................sadly once again the colour's not right......
There were sad reminders of times gone by....some of the flower beds being memorials.....
quite poignant in the light of the recent lives lost by 3 of our soldiers in Afghanistan...all members of 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment.
This is the first time I've seen the Teddy Bear arrangement....based on Colchester's very own blogger B.T.Bear no doubt!
All in all we did quite a few hours walking and even I (who LOVES walking) had swollen ankles by the time I got back home to Cornard. ...and joy of joys not a drop of rain to dampen my spirits.
When I woke up Saturday morning it was really foggy...................
then the sun started to come through.................
and the rest of the day was wall to wall blue skies...HURRAH!!!!!
After all the rain the poor garden was looking rather bedraggled.......there was so much dead heading to do and I noticed that many of the roses are suffering badly from Black Spot now.....
I'll have to make sure that i clear every dropped leaf in the Autumn and give the roses a good mulch so that any spores laying dormant in the ground can't "jump up" next year! One thing I have noticed this year is that I've hardly seen any green fly or black fly since spring.....I guess the frogs and birds are doing a good job of keeping them down...............
The sun brought out the butterflies and moths......................
and the perfume of the Lilies was almost overpowering...........this time of year the sun's starting to leave the garden and so I've had move all the sun lovers up to the top .........
I was surprised to see this Foxglove in flower........this is the third flush this year!....I cut them right back after each flush has finished.......
Sunday was another beautiful day....technically this isn't a new bloom as I've posted a photo of a Toad Lily before....but I love them so much ...and this photo is from another clump I have in a different part of the garden......
Sunday afternoon I went out for a walk; I was hoping the gates to the Lock would be open but they were locked.......LOL the gates to the Lock were locked!...........so I couldn't get more than a few yards along the bank.I couldn't believe how big some of the fish in the river are getting.....can any fishermen/women tell me what sort of fish this is?
He soon swam away when this swan approached.......I guess he didn't want to risk being Sunday dinner.....
I was surprised more people weren't on the water...these were the only sailors I saw.
Today I'm going to the river bank nearer the town....our local church is having a (plastic) Duck Race, Tug O' War as part of their Bank Holiday Fun Day. Let's hope this spell of good weather lasts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
26 comments:
I really like that photo of the fuchsia! Happy GTS to you as well. :)
What beautiful photos, Ruth! I just love the white swans. I guess I should send a photo of our serene black swans, of which we saw 2, in amongst all the white ones, and the swannery at Chervil Bank - is it in North Somerset? Or there abouts, not far from Glastonbury anyway.
I went back to school at age 27 and ended up achieving a Diploma of Social Services (library technician) as it was called back then. I adored school, and found holidays a rude interruption. Going to work was a much worse interruption!
Whoops, that should have been Dip. of Social Sciences.
Me again, after further reading. Is that fish not an English Perch? or redfin, as we call them out here. I really am leaving the computer now!
That was like a holiday for me, walking along and taking photos with you and yours here today. You're fun, Ruth, but then what else would you be.
You have been so busy! Looks like you have been "making hay while the sun shines!" as the farmers around here say!
I love seeing all of your photos. They are so wonderful. I loved the butterfly...the colors are so stunning! Today, I did a little wandering and I saw a couple of Monarchs. They were just flitting about in the traffic. Strange!
Thank you for the tour of your (busy) days!
These photos are fantastic. They're all wonderful. (I especially liked the haunting one of the "glimmer of sun"). Have you ever thought of trying to publish a book of your photographs? I would totally buy it!
Hi Ruth,
Great shots. What a visual treat. Love the shots of the butterfly - and of course the one in the churchyard, which was quite in keeping with the tone of my ``ghost post''!
Keep smiling
David
What beautiful photos. i like the look of castle park...I must get down to see you one day! Glad you got such a bargain in Matalan!
P hates foxgloves and made me pull up all the ones in the rockery as he said they overwhelmed it. I realise he likes a very controlled garden wheras I like things a little wilder!
Well I guess we all know what Libby is going to wish for!! *lol* ! This is a fab post Ruth, lovely photos and I'm so glad you got out to enjoy the sun. Reading CG's comment - I hate Foxgloves too, they make me feel very peculiar! - I often wondered if i was poisoned by digitalis in a previous life?????
My goodness what fantastic post - and so many fantastic photos - you have really excelled yourself Ruth
And how clever once again you are with the birthday cake
HAPPY BLOGVERSARY TO LIBBY.
Love all the photos Ruth and that topiary teddy is so cute! Those definitely look like orbs in the churchyard.
I love that topiarized writing.. how cool is that??
that fish... how big was it? (approx?)
it looks very colourful for a British river fish (so I was assuming it was quite small because coloured fishes usually are...?? am I right?)
Ruth, the fish is a Roach or a Rudd. Without seeing it side on I can't sat which.
i luv the photos ruth, especially the foggy morning one..i'm a child of the fog myself..saw your orbs..isn't that fascinating?
hugz
k
You do more in a week than some people do in a year! I hope someday I will be the same. :)
VERY brave of you to go in that haunted area!!!
All of the photos are beautiful!
Thanks all for dropping by...and helping with the fish identification...I asked a fisherman today when I was down by the river and he reckoned it could be a roach or a rudd so well done to JohnG. I'll be showing some more of my orb photos later in the week as David has asked "do you believe in ghosts?" as his Weekend Wandering question.
Rx
Do yu kno, the skwirrels hide nuts in those petunia mounds by the bandstand? I've seen them. We feed them hazolnuts- they tayke them 2 at a time out ov our hands. Then they run off an berry them. Sumtimes they go into the petunias. Yu just see their tails wiggling wile they berry the nuts.
They ar very disappoyntid evry autumn wen the counsil men come an empty an tayke away their stash!!!
Oh, an I see the bear is still minus his hunny pot! There waz an orange pot markt "hunny" in front ov him, full ov yello marrygolds. Sumbody haz stolen it!!!
Hurumpff!
:@o
B.T.Bear...what a dastardly deed...I bet the Bear looked fabulous with the Honeypot too. I get so angry when people vandalise the work that the park keepers have put into a display.
Hi Ruth,
I just wanted to visit "for a change" your wonderfull garden blog again,
and YEH what a great blog,
I like the "story in the photo's" from the rainsky to the blue sky, e frogs and flowers... I looked at them all..
Thanks for sharing, you are a fantastic blogmaker.
:) JoAnn ( me again!)
Thank you for the lovely cake, although I can't eat alot at the mo, so please share it round.
{{hugs}}
I love your site and your photos... they're beautiful!
What a marvelous journey I've had meandering throughout your garden and all the other wonderful places you've managed to take me today!
Thank you. What a great trip...
~~~Blessings~~~
Just about to post your Nice Matters Award.
Thank you so much, Ruth....
Wow you've excelled with these pics Ruth but those orbs really do put a spooky look on the Church Yard pic x x x
On my best friend Calina's birthday I gifted her beautiful birthday butterflies which i purchased at Couponalbum.com and saved $10. It was very nice shopping experience for me....Just try this site for shopping....!!
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