Day 219 - Reclaimed by Nature

serenity

We decided to go for a walk in spite of not having to for the first time in years, so as to not break the routine...then we walked miles more than usual, in order to break the routine...

Go figure!

It's been a difficult, flat, sad day, and we felt the need to get out into nature and try to find some peace out there in the warm evening sun.

Resisting the temptation to look back every minute or so to see how Jazz was doing, we ended up walking all the way down to the bottom of the lane, quietly remembering him, and pondering the pros and cons of getting another dog.

Idly snapping as we strolled, we caught a few interesting sights, like this balloon peacefully wandering the skies.

By odd coincidence, we got another shot of a juvenile Green Woodpecker, a mile down the lane from where the last one was...

woody

As we got to the bottom of the valley, we came to the little river that Jazz and Bluez liked to cool off in, back in the days when they could walk that far (a couple of years ago probably)..

no jazz

It was very overgrown, and very hard to focus, but it brought good memories of my boys splashing about, happy as labradors in cold water!

One photo I would never have captured if Jazz had been with me was this healthy looking rabbit...

jack

As we started back up the lane, I caught this nice shot of a buzzard alighting on top of a tree...

big ol' buzzard

I'd been remonstrating with Anna for not getting me a photo of a deer when I gave her the camera for two minutes...and then spotted this lovely young buck Roe, who remarkably hadn't noticed us as he strolled across the field. 

oh deer

Handsome young chap, isn't he?

yes deer

I've been wanting a photo of a deer for ages...Muntjac next - we have those around here too.

Well there you are, made it through a whole post without getting too upset about Jazz, even though we're missing him painfully...

Going back to nature definitely helped, as always.

Day 213 - Making Hay

whilst the sun shines

I had a plan B all set up and prepared today, when I was thwarted at the last moment by this tractor.

I'd even put a little thought into what I was going to write about, which pretty much never happens...So maybe there's a lesson there, do you think?

Anyway, as soon as I saw the tractor out in the field hay-making, I knew my intended photo opportunity would be inaccessible... 

But quick as a flash, I thwarted fate right back!

Taking my cue from the tractor, I decided to make hay whilst the sun was shining, by getting a shot of the tractor making hay whilst the sun was shining...

Take that, kismet, I shall not be thwarted!

In a further demonstration of my hay-making ability, I'm going to sign off at this point, as I'm itching to go and play some good old down and dirty electric blues on my trusty old strat, to burn away some of the frustrations of having our lovely summer garden turned into what appears to be the remains of a building site, shortly after it's been peppered with multiple cluster-bombs, hot on the heels of a localised summer tornado...

And that's a significantly longer sentence than I commonly write!

You're welcome...

:-)

Day 208 - Summertime

umm, a butterfly?

Having met so many caterpillars in recent weeks, the season appears to have turned...and the butterflies are coming out in force.

Wandering down the lane tonight, one of the first really warm, summery evenings we've had, I was ruing a missed opportunity a couple of days ago.  I'd got the snail photo early in the morning, so didn't bother taking the camera on our evening stroll.   

Typically, we were then treated to a brilliant display of a pair of crows pestering and generally annoying a large buzzard.   This has been a common sight over recent months, but rarely so close and never when I've been free to take a photo. 

As it was, if I'd had the camera in my hand as I usually do these days, I would have had a great chance of getting an interesting action shot.

But then we started to notice the butterflies...

red admiral

We soon realised they were all out...red admirals sunning themselves on broad bramble leaves, others collecting nectar from flowers, or courting, as with this white (there were several of these, circling and spinning around each other in the warm, hazy sunlght).  

white, of some description

I've no idea what this last one is, and unfortunately I haven't got the time or energy to go researching...

erm, a brown?

Perhaps one of you friendly readers might chip in, in the comments section below?

Go on, you know you want to! ;-)

Anyway, I was struck by how the presence of so many butterflies within a few metres of each other really brought home the feeling that Summer is here...and we should all spend more time basking, and flitting, and flirting...spend more time living, and less time working!

After all, we all know that Winter is Coming, a time for struggle and work and huddling indoors...

So we should make the most of this season, for all the warmth and life that it brings, and be thankful that we're here to live through it.

:-)