Game of Risk

Tuesday 31 August 2011 - Game of Risk - 100

This is my one hundredth blip and I made a conscious decision not to do a special 100 picture, but to continue telling the story of my everyday life.

My grandchildren are home from their holiday in Mexico and so it is back to looking after them for the last few days before they go back to school. I worked all morning and as this blip shows, we played Risk, all afternoon.

It all began with some purple flowers and in between there have been a variety of shots including, more flowers, wildlife, cakes, cats, seaside and gardens to name just a few of the topics; I hit the spotlight with this on Sunday 17 July 2011.

I was introduced to blip by a fellow blipper, Painting with Light and as soon as I started blipping I became hooked;  thanks Juli. I hope I can continue to blip every day and I plan to produce a ?Blurb? book each time I reach a milestone; an idea pinched from a fellow blipper, thanks Xander.

So thanks everyone for looking and commenting on my journal as well as giving me stars and hearts; thanks also to the Blip team for making this possible.

Robin

It is cold and damp here today so not many blip opportunities. In the end I decided on this robin which visited our bird table. There were several other birds visiting as well as two robins, this one and a very scruffy looking one, which had more character, but did not photograph as well.

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea, but no cucumber sandwiches and it was coffee, not tea!

This is one of two almost identical cakes, which I made yesterday. I could not blip them yesterday as I did not want my daughter to see them on the site which she looks at, but has not yet joined, which is why a large part of it has been eaten.

She arrived home from Mexico with her family this morning and although she has had three birthday cakes while she was away, none of them were gluten free so her son, my grandson, would not be able to eat any of them. So the two I made were gluten-free so that both me and Oliver can eat them.

So although this cake is for my daughter?s birthday, it is also for Oliver. Who needs three birthday cakes anyway, well obviously my daughter and maybe JaneW.

Reeves Muntjack

I had a busy morning baking and taking delivery of the groceries and putting them away and then I watched the Formula One on the television; it was not exactly the result I was looking for.

Then this afternoon, in between the rain showers and the sunshine, I was wondering what I could find in the garden to blip, when I looked out of the window and saw this Reeves Muntjack Deer eating the windfall pears in the orchard; I took a lot of pictures of it and then could not decide which to post.

Should I leave the surrounding area in? Or just include the deer? What about the one of it with its tongue out or the one with the pear in its mouth? In the end I decided to post this one as it appears to be posing and it was in fact looking directly at me, looking at it, out of the open kitchen window. It also shows its shadow on the grass as well as its lovely dark markings on its face.

Cromer Lighthouse

Today we went to Cromer, it was raining and dull when we went, but we thought it would brighten up and it did. Until three o?clock when we were as far away from the town as we could be, we had walked up the cliff path to the lighthouse and were just sitting on a seat before walking back down when the black clouds came in.

We got absolutely soaked, I had an umbrella, but that just kept the top of me dry. The rain came down almost horizontally and in less than a minute the front of our trousers was completely soaked. After about five minutes it stopped, but unfortunately there was nowhere to shelter and everyone, including us, just kept going. Once we got back to town, I bought a new pair of trousers and changed into them in the fitting room!

I took a great many sea, cloud and sky pictures today, but in the end decided on the lighthouse; it shows it doing what a lighthouse should do, with its light flashing to warn ships of danger.

Splodge

I took my first blip of the day at 0615 hours, it was raining and there was not much light and needless to say it was not particularly good; it was of a Reeves Muntjack deer in the garden.

It continued to rain most of the day and I continued to take pictures of wet flowers, dark clouds and even some blue sky which appeared very briefly; I was not happy with any of them. 

Even the cats were not very obliging, then when I was cooking the supper the sun came out and Splodge decided to sit on the wall in front of the fennel bush; so this is what you get today.

Splodge is getting very old now, fifteen and a half, although not as old as her Auntie Moggie and so she is getting very slow to move, but not so slow that she cannot catch a mouse or two!

It is only 1900 hours now, but it is already getting dark and raining again; maybe tomorrow will be better.

Spider

I realise that this is not the best picture of a spider as its front legs are out of focus. It was quite a large spider, I was using a macro lens and it kept moving before it disappeared into the foliage; well that is my excuse. I do not know what kind of spider it is, but I have posted it on iSpot, so if I get an identification, then I will update the details.

If you do not like spiders then do not view it large.

Victoria Plums

I took pictures today of amongst other things, apples, pears and bullrushes, but decided that these plums, with the light shining through the branches was the best for sharing.

As you can see there are a lot of plums on this branch waiting to be picked, many branches on this tree are now bare; probably the wind has blown them onto the ground.

It was supposed to rain today, not that I am complaining, that it has been sunny and warm, but the plums and the ripening fruit make me think that Autumn is on its way even though it is still August; did someone say it will soon be Christmas!

Penfold Hexagonal Postbox

Today it has been very wet for most of the day, unlike forty years ago when it was brilliant sunshine and very, very hot; how can I remember that you might well ask. It was the day my daughter was born, although not until 2330 hours when it had cooled down a little. 

I will not be celebrating with her today, she is in Mexico, but before she went we did celebrate her birthday, see here if you are interested for the blip showing her face when she opened her present.

Today I had to go to Cambridge to collect a book, which had been ordered for the next Open University course which I plan to study and despite the rain I still took my point and press camera.

This is a Penfold Hexagonal Postbox and this was the standard design for Post Office boxes in the United Kingdom between 1866 and 1879.

This one was taken outside the main gate of King's College, Cambridge. Traditionally postboxes in the United Kingdom are marked, at the time of their installation, with the initials of the reigning monarch. In this case, the post box carries the initial VR for Victoria Regina, indicating Queen Victoria.

I understand that these are quite rare and until recently this was the only one I had seen, a few weeks ago I saw another one in London, but did not blip it at the time; next time I go I will try to remember to do so.

Harvesting the Wheat

When I was a small child, many years ago, our wheat was never harvested until the third week of August, that, my father said, was when it was ready. Other grain crops could be harvested earlier, but not wheat.

Here we are some sixty years later and what are they doing in the field near my home and in the fourth week of August, harvesting the wheat; and I thought everything was supposed to be earlier now.

I took several pictures this morning, but I was not particularly happy with any of them. Then I went to feed my daughter's animals, (she is still on holiday) and on the way back I noticed the combine harvester. I took quite a lot of pictures of the activites, including removing the grain from the harvester into one of the trailers, but on the whole I liked this one best.

I still have the dust up my nose, in my hair and on my T-shirt, but I think the pictures were worth the dust.

Pump

We went to Great Dunmow today for lunch at the China Garden Restaurant and when I came out I saw this pump and thought it made a good blip. Shame about the scaffolding, but I could not get the picture without it, if I had taken it from the other side, there was a rubbish bin just in front of the pump and sting nettles growing out of the base; at least the grass this side does not detract too much. I decided there was too much scaffolding to try to clone out.

On the way home I saw two more pumps, one green and one black, so maybe I will go back and blip them sometime.

Lovely and sunny here today although I undestand it was supposed to rain, not that I am complaining. The sky in this picture was interesting too, being blue and white.

Pink Rose with Raindrops

I have been to Cambridge again today and the weather was warm and dry; now I am home again it is raining but it was expected.

I took the camera to Cambridge, but did not see anything I wanted to take, that I have not taken many times before, so today's blip is again from the garden; the centre of a pink rose with raindrops.

Japanese Anemone

This is a pink Japanese Anemone and the first one to flower this year; we also have some white ones, but they are not out yet.

I decided to blip early today as I still have a lot of work which I want to get finished before the weekend. I hope to catch up with comments this evening.

Green Tomatoes with Raindrops

Well you can quess what it is doing here.

It was fine this morning when I went shopping but has been raining ever since I got home. It has not been a very exciting day as I have been working all afternoon, except for a brief conversation on Skype with my daughter who is in Mexico.

Now I have to go and feed her animals and then cook the tea, but at least I do not have to work this evening, so hopefully I can catch up with some comments on here.

Artillery Hall

We had planned to go to Cromer today, but did not realise until we were in the traffic almost into Cromer, that it was carnival day! The roads were packed with cars, crawling along and more people than on the Mall on the day of the Royal Wedding, or so it seemed. We were later arriving in Cromer than we planned to be, which with hindsight was a good thing; looking at the Cromer webcam, we would still be trying to get out of the car park at almost 2100 hours tonight.

Instead of finding somewhere to park, there was a car park, a long way from the town centre, we decided to travel along the coast road and find somewhere quiet for coffee, a walk and lunch. We have often seen the Muckleburgh Military Museum, but never visited as someone told us it was expensive and rubbish! So today we decided to give it a go; they were wrong, if you are interested in this kind of thing it was an excellent way to spend the day. It is similar to Duxford War Museum, near Cambridge, but smaller and more compact. They did a great lunch suitable for me as a coeliac, it was good value and tasted good. There are also plenty of places for children to run around and to eat a picnic.

During the afternoon, amogst other things, we visited the 'Radio Room', Mr Arkensiel is very interested in this area and inside he met someone he knew from twenty-five years ago!

I did not know which photograph to include today, but finally decided on this one of The Artillery Room. I can recommend a visit if you are in the area and if this is the kind of thing you are interested in; they have a website which gives more details.

Wheat Field

We went for a walk early this morning on the footpaths and by the fields of grain near where we live. This field of wheat has not yet been cut, probably needs about another week before it is ready.

The sun was shining when we started out, but these clouds where gathering by the time we were on our way home. However, it is now almost lunch time and the rain has not yet fallen although it is overcast.

Many thanks to everyone for their comments, hearts and favourites; they are much appreciated. If I have missed commenting back to anyone, my apologies as I do try to reply to everyone.

Lower Orchard and Marsh

I took this at 0630 hours this morning and here we are almost fourteen hours later and it is only just getting posted.

It has been an 'Addenbrookes Hospital' day today. My husband has a medical condition and sometimes we spend the whole day in clinic; today was one of those days. Afterward we went into Cambridge and had our tea at John Lewis before we came home.

This is part of our lower garden and the bottom of our orchard, but also shows the marsh, which long ago was a water meadow. There was a slight mist over the marsh this morning, but it does not show up very well here. This is going to be one of those pictures which I will take, on the fifteenth of each month, to show the changing seasons over this area. I started one showing the orchard on Monday 1 August 2011 and this other view will be posted on the first of every month.

Another Bee

Another bee blip today!

I did take ladybirds, various insects and flowers today, but finally settled on this one as I also liked the detail on the ends of the petals which you can see quite clearly, if viewed in large, as well as the fine detail on the bee itself.

Mint Moth

This tiny moth is called a Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata) and is part of the Family Crambidae. It was seen feeding on the Water Mint flowers in our wild garden.

Red Rose

This is a miniature red rose and ten seconds before I pressed the shutter there was an insect in the centre; alas it disappeared before I could captured it so you have just the flower instead.

I did not have to look after my grandchildren today, they are going on holiday at the weekend and their father was working from home today, so I have been to Cambridge with my husband, but did not take a camera!

We had quite a lot of rain yesterday evening as the sky from yesterday's blip indicated; today it has not rained all day except for a few drops while I was driving home. However, the sky is now overcast and it looks as though more rain will fall tonight.

Weather Station and Storm

I took pictures earlier today of bees and ladybirds, but had not quite decided which to use. When I arrived home this afternoon my husband had put up the weather station we bought some while ago, so I decided that this would be my blip today.

I was going to crop it to remove the washing line, the weather station is attached to the washing line pole and some of the sky, but in the end I decided to leave it as it was taken, especially the sky, which shows the storm that is brewing.

Yellow Lichen probably Xanthoria parientina

It was difficult to decide which blip to use today as I had some good ones of a very large bumblebee as well as a ladybird feeding on wild thyme.

In the end I chose this yellow lichen which is probably Xanthoria parientina. It comes in several shades of yellow and orange; this one was growing on the felt roof of the nesting box of the chicken house.

Zoological Museum

Today was a educational fun day at the museums, so we went to Cambridge to visit two of them.

Oliver is more interested in rocks and fossils, but Victoria prefers plants and animals, so we visited the Sedgwick during the morning and the Zoological during the afternoon. They did a quiz in the Sedgwick, which had been prepared for the school holidays so probably learnt something, but during the afternoon we looked at the exhibits.

Morning coffee with cake and lunch were both eaten in John Lewis as this is not too far from either of these museums.

Today's blip shows them at either end of the skeletons depicting the changes from monkey to man. I keep watching to see of the one at the end is going to reach out and grab Oliver by the scruff of the neck!

Oliver

This is Oliver playing badminton in the garden, he is playing against Grandad and Victoria who are out of shot; he is very sporty and wins, even when it is two to one!

Birthday

We went for lunch at the China Garden Restaurant where they do a decent buffet lunch on a Sunday. It is where we usually go to celebrate birthdays, anniversaires and special occasions. This occasion was essentially for my husband's birthday, which we celebrated in July, but at that time we were unable to go out for lunch.

However, my daughter has a special birthday soon, one with a zero on the end. As she will be on holiday on the actual day we decided to give her a surprise early present. She has wanted an iPad for a long time and her husband suggested that instead of individual presents this year we bought her a joint present; as you can see, it was a complete surprise.

Red Begonia

I have been shopping in Cambridge all day with my daughter and granddaughter and seem to have walked miles. Looking at my pedometer it is only showing eight and a half kilometers. Amongst other shops, we visited the new re-modelled BHS and I bought some clothes as well as more clothes from Debenhams; I had no plans to buy anything when I went out!

We met my husband for lunch in John Lewis, he was doing his own shopping for computer parts, then after lunch we did some more shopping before coming home.

Once I got home it was a quick trip into the garden to take something for today's blip. Having taken several different coloured begonias, I then did not know which one to choose; in the end I decided the red one was the brightest.

I hope tomorrow will be a more restful day; I can but hope.

Buff-tailed Bumblebees

I was taking photographs of various insects and butterflies, feeding on the lavender in the garden and it was not until I downloaded the images that I realised that I had captured two bumblebees on one plant. I think they are Buff-tailed Bumblebees. 

Today is mainly sunny and warm after the heavy rain we had all day yesterday, but occasionally the sky clouds over and we get just a few spots of rain.

The housework has been done and it is nearly time for lunch. Then I think I will have to do some work, script marking, before playing a board game with my grandchildren later this afternoon.

Gluten Free Bread Rolls

We had planned a trip to the museums today, but it was bucketing down this morning (still is, mid-afternoon) and although the museums are indoors, we would have got very wet walking from the bus stop, so we decided to do something else instead.

We decided to make white and brown gluten free rolls and these are the results. Although they look a little pale, we ate some, warm for lunch and they tasted good, although they were a little harder than they should have been. I blame my daughter's oven which has never been the same since it was mended.

Tomorrow we have to do the housework so everything is clean and tidy for the weekend, so we can go shopping on Saturday and out for lunch on Sunday.

Lunch in the Garden

As it was such a lovely day we thought lunch in the garden under a shady tree would be a nice idea. Unfortunately the wasps thought the same thing; we retreated to the house and left them to it.

This is my daughter's garden, not mine.

It has been extremily hot here and just before supper we had a thunderstorm which took out our electricity and set off all the alarms. It came back on again quite quickly so not too many problem with computers and Internet.

Cromer, Norfolk, United Kingdom

It was raining when we left just before 0800 hours and raining when we returned twevle hours later, but in between we had rain, sun and wind.

Overall it was a good day and we walked eleven and a half kilometres. We walked in the sea, looked in the rock pools where we found fish, shrimps, crabs and red sea anemones. We had a good lunch as well as eating all the other things you generally eat at the seaside.

Of the many images taken it was decided that this one should be used here and shows Victoria with a slush drink, Grandad with his stick and Oliver with candyfloss walking down the street towards the beach just after lunch.

Orchard on 1 August 2011

This shows part of the orchard and was taken on 1 August for comparison with other photographs, which will be taken on the first of each month and posted here to show how things change throughout the changing seasons.

It also shows some of the deliberately unmown wild parts of the garden left to encourge wildlife and some of the bee hives. We have a wide variety of fruit trees in the orchard including, five varieties of apple, two cherry trees, two pear trees and two plum trees. We also have three nut trees, a Sweet Chestnut, a Cob Nut and a Walnut, although not all of these are visible here. 

This image was taken at 0612 hours Greenwich Mean Time or 0712 hours British Summer Time. 

However, all of the photographs will not all be taken at this early hour as it will be too dark during some months. I may also take another blip of a different part of the garden on the fifteenth of every month, again for comparison to show how the garden changes throughout the year.

Punting on the River Cam

We visited Cambridge today as we had not been for a while on a Sunday and the market on a Sunday has some interesting 'crafty' type things. I did not buy anything, except we had lunch and coffee at the University Centre where we are members; then it was home in time to see most of the Formula One.

I did take this blip of some of the people enjoying the lovely hot sunshine as well as the punts.

Across the Pond

We celebrated Federico's thirteenth birthday today with a roast lunch, games in the garden, presents, cake and candles.

Of the many photographs that I took today I chose this one of Victoria relaxing with Moggie the sixteen-year-old cat and Debora who is also sixteen.

Red Admiral

This Red Admiral butterfly was trapped in my daughter's conservatory along with two others; all were released after this blip was taken.

There was a Green Woodpecker in her garden today, as apposed to the more common, in her garden anyway, Great Spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately I did not have the correct lens with me to get a picture of it, which showed the bird big enough to see!

This is the end of the first week of the school holidays so now I have two days off. Actually I only have one day off, as we are going to lunch and tea tomorrow as it is the birthday of Federico, one of the Italian children and so celebrations and cake are in order.

I wonder what I will blip tomorrow?

Rose

Today we started with a visit to the orthodontist for Victoria. She still, at aged thirteen, has one baby tooth left! Once this comes out they hope that her teeth will be fine, but they plan to check her in one year's time to see if she needs 'train tracks'.

Then because this was a very early appointment we went for breakfast, then some shopping and then for an ice cream. After that we did some more shopping, partly looking for presents for the Italian children, who after eight weeks here, go home on Sunday.

This afternoon we played Monopoly and then they made a 'sun compass' with their Granddad.

Now I am home again and so a quick blip before supper of this rose, which is rather overblown now, but I still like it. It is from my favourite apricot rose bush, Tea Clipper.

The cakes from yesterday were a great success at the cricket tea as well as at home and as expected disappeared very quickly.

Fairy cakes made and iced by Victoria and Oliver

Today is the last match of the cricket season for Oliver and for the buffet afterwards he, or his Mum, were asked to provide some cakes. Victoria and Oliver spent a good part of the morning making these fairy cakes and then when they were cool after lunch they iced them; they made them be themselves with very little help from Grandma.

Victoria was more proficient to begin when putting the mixture neatly into the cases, but Oliver soon caught her up. To make things even, he managed to conquer the art of icing very quickly; not to be outdone by her older brother, Victoria soon got the hang of it too.

There were 64 cakes in total, not all for the buffet, but some for the family too; my husband has already eaten three for his tea! Neither of the children had made cakes like these and iced them before so they were very proud of their efforts.

Cherry Plums

These are just a few of the cherry plums on one of the trees in my daughter's garden. We have already made lots of jam and several plum crumbles with some of these and there are still a great many left. Their garden, like mine also has other plum trees as well as apple and pear trees. 

Fruit and Cheese Scones

The first day of the school holidays and so I did some baking with my grandchildren.

Victoria made fruit scones, Oliver made cheese scones. These two plates do not show them all, some have already been eaten!

White Polyanthus

Back to a garden blip today. Not so exciting as the headless man, which was yesterday's blip.

Headless Man

This is a back blip as I spent all day yesterday in London with my daughter, my son-in-law, their two children, as well as the two Italian children who are still staying with her.

Despite the many good blips I took to record the sightseeing day, this is the one I have chosen to include here. This fascinated the younger of the two Italian children who had not seen street performers before. He lives in a very small alpine village and was overwhelmed by almost everything he saw; everything was so big compared with his tiny village.

We went on a walking tour rather than visiting any specific attraction as we felt this gave them a better idea of London and the many famous sites. We walked from London Liverpool Street station via the Tower of London, over Tower Bridge and along the south side of the river. We walked over the Millenium Bridge to St Paul's Cathedral where we saw this headless man and then back again and on to see the London Eye, stopping to look at the many street performers along the way. We crossed Westminster Bridge and saw The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Then on to St James's Park to have a picnic lunch and a rest. Then we walked past Horse Guards Parade, the Mall and saw Buckingham Palace, then onto Trafalgar Square through theatre land to Covent Garden. By this time our legs were getting tired so we walked to Holborn and caught the underground back to London Liverpool Street station. As we walked all four children learnt a lot, not just about London, but the various history which went with it.

In the evening we went out for an Indian meal just to finish off the day. By the time we had finished, my pedometre read 17.5 kilometres, just short of eleven miles!!! 

Not surprisingly, today I have two blisters and the muscles in my thighs ache.

Large Red-tailed Bumble Bee

This large Red-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus lapidarius) was seen in my garden feeding on some clover.

My grandchildren finished school at lunch time today until September. As their Mum now works full-time I will be looking after them except for the two weeks when they go away on a family holiday. I am very much looking forward to doing things with them, from baking to visiting museums and the seaside.

Red Admiral

At last I have managed to blip a butterfly although it does not show it off as well as it might; I saw it feeding on the buddlia.

We had planned a trip to the seaside today, but the weather did not look good and I am pleased we did not go as it has been raining again here, as well as the seaside town we would have visited.

Common Red Soldier Beetle

This is a Common Red Soldier Beetle in flight; it took off as I focused the camera. It did settle again and I took several more pictures of it, but I liked this one best.

Very dull and overcast here today, but so far no rain; it is quite warm out too. Not a very busy day either so I have been taking lots of photographs of wild things for identification on iSpot.

Black and Yellow Fly

This morning I made cherry plum jam from some plums given to me by my daughter who has several trees producing these tiny plums in her garden. 

I took several images today and after much deliberation I decided to blip this black and yellow fly, which was seen feeding on the buddlia bush. I had hoped for a butterfly, but saw only one which promptly flew away. I do not not know exactly what this fly is called, but if I find out I will post an update. I almost included a Common Red Soldier Beetle, but there were lots of those in the wild garden so further blip opportunites to be had, whilst I had not seen a fly like this one before.

Wednesday 20 July - update - This has been identified on iSPot as a hoverfly. It looks very different to what I thought a hoverfly looked, but the experts on iSpot have identified as such.

Marsh Plant

A visit to the dentist this morning, not good for a Monday morning, but then it was followed by a session making cake pops, which were to have been my blip today. However, although they taste good, they do not look as good as they should, so that blip will have to wait for next time.

These pink flowers grow in the marshy area next to my home and this one had strayed into the wild area of the garden. I do not know exactly what it is called, but we call it a Marsh Plant, because it grows in the marsh.

I hit the spotlight yesterday, so many thanks to everyone who commented and viewed my blip.

Later identified as Rosebay Willowherb

Two for the price of One

I was taking images in the garden and thought one of a thistle might make a good blip. We have a lot of thistles in the part of the garden which we deliberately allow to go wild during the summer to attract wildlife. Suddenly I could see a honey bee and a hoverfly in my viewfinder at the same time, so here it is.

Garden Snail

It has been raining here all day, but has just stopped long enough for me to take this blip of a common garden snail in the clover.

The photoshoot at Milton Keynes was cancelled due to bad weather which was good in one way, as it is doubtful I could have gone as I am still having back problems. I also did not go to bed very early last night as my daughter managed to get a fish bone stuck in her throat. Her husband took her to Addenbrookes, but I had to go to her house to childsit her two children plus the two who are staying with her for the summer. Fortunately they were able to sort her out and no harm has been done, although she has a very scratched and sore throat.

Gazania

I had an early morning meeting in Cambridge this morning and then visited my favourite garden centre. I bought a gluten free macaroon and a mocha and after I had finished them I thought - that would have made a good blip!

I purchased a variety of plants for my front garden, including the window boxes and tubs. I purchased two of these Gazania plants, they produce several different colour flowers, all on the same plant and they seem to attract a large number of insects. I did make a collage with them, but then decided against using it, so here you have one of the plants, which is in one of the tubs by the front door.

It has been a warm day here, but I am told that it is going to rain; it feels as though there might be a thunderstorm. I am also told that it will be wet all weekend; well that saves watering the garden.

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do.

Tea Clipper

This is a late blip today as I have been out since 0730 this morning. My husband had two hospital appointments today at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, one at twelve noon the other at 1700 hours. Early this morning, we went into Cambridge for brunch in John Lewis and then again, in between appointments we went shopping again. Our daughter also works at Addenbrookes so we were able to see her briefly during her lunch break. 

I took my camera to Cambridge, but forgot to take anything as I was busy shopping, buying new clothes, as well as a birthday present for one of the children staying with my daughter for the summer.

Then when I got home I had several emails to deal with from a student who had 'forgotten' to submit their final assignment and thought they had missed the deadline.

So it was a quick dash into the garden, then I ended up with two images, but decided on this apricot coloured David Austin rose; it is called Tea Clipper. Now time for tea and then hopefully I will have time to comment.

White Everlasting Sweet-pea

This is the white everlasting sweetpea, which I blipped in bud on 3 July 2011, if you missed it, you can view it here if you wish. It is the same stalk although taken from a slightly different angle.

Victoria - Prizegiving

Today was Junior Prizegiving at my grandchildren's Grammar School and Victoria won a prize for being in the top five for housepoints for her year. Neither of her parents were able to attend, being at work and unable to get time off, so it was down to Grandma and Grandad to do the honours.

This was taken by another parent after the prizegiving when there was a small reception for prizewinners and their families. I do not photograph well so make the most of seeing me here, or look away quickly; it has only been posted at Victoria's request, rather than one of her on her own with her prize.

Red Crocsimia

I took this in my daughter's garden this afternoon. This shows just one flower from a whole stem of them and I think they are crocsimia.

I have not done a whole lot of things today, the weather has been very hot so apart from going to have physio on my back I have not done a great deal.

Busy day tomorrow though.

Green Grapes

Today has been dull, but warm with no rain, so this morning I did some gardening at the front of the house. My husband pruned the grape vine, which tends to ramble all over the place if it is not kept in order.

We watched the Formula One, from Silverstone, here in the United Kingdom; it was not the result I wanted, but an exciting race. Now my husband is mowing the lawns.

I thought today's blip should reflect what we had been doing so here is an image of some of the grapes. It looks like being a very good crop this year and when they turn purple around September time I will blip them again.

Gluten Free Cake Pops

I went to the Newmarket Gluten Free Food Fair today with my grandson and bought these cake pops, which seem to becoming very popular. They are a little expensive for what they are so I think it is time to experiment and make some.

The food fair was not as good as it has been in the past although there were some free goody bags from the top suppliers and things to sample, there were no sausage suppliers and much of the food for tasting was sweet rather than savoury. The other problem this year was that they were selling only coffee, from a tent outside, rather than having the proper area open to sell hot drinks as well as cold; this in my opinion was a big mistake.

Still overall, even though there were not as many suppliers as before, it was still worth while visiting.

Raspberry

I took this blip of a raspberry in my neighbour's garden. There are quite a few red ones and we will be eating them tomorrow; there are also some strawberries, which we are to have too. 

We have had sunshine and heavy showers today, more like April weather than July weather.

Tomorrow I am off to the coeliac food fair at Newmarket Racecourse with my grandson who is also a coeliac. There should be lots of things to taste as well as, hopefully, some nice things to buy.

Bow

This is Bow, the dog we are looking after this week, waiting patiently for his supper.

Another busy day, but I found time to have lunch out with my husband and to do a little shopping before supervising my grandchildren after school.

It has been raining on and off for most of the day, but now this evening the sun is out, for how long I do not know.

Only a Rose

I have just taken delivery of a new Nikon 18mm to 55mm lens so I wanted to try it out on something; this peach coloured rose seemed a good idea.

Today I submit my Open University assignment for T189 - Digital Photography. If anyone is interested in this course details can be found here on their website.

The First of Many?

This is the first tomato to turn red this year. It is in a hangling basket situated in the pagola. I have four baskets of these Tumbling Tom Thumb as well as other varieties in pots on the veranda. I am also growing runner beans in pots this year as back problems have prevented me from cultivating the veg patch; well that is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Today my daughter has started work again full-time after almost fifteen years of raising children and working part-time at the local school to fit in with small children. Now they are older and at Grammar School they are much more self-sufficient, but I have volunteered to supervise them for an hour or so until she comes home. I will also look after them during some of the summer holidays; something me and my husband are looking forward to. 

Today I have almost completed my assignment for my Open University course. I have my ten images ready and my answers to part two questions completed. However, they need a little more editing as I am well over the word count on one of them. I will leave the answers overnight now and finish it off and submit it in the morning.

 

White Everlasting Sweet-pea

It is back to the garden today after an exciting day yesterday at the carnival. I back blipped a shot of the judo team which can be seen here if you are interested.

Today has been a quiet day at home. It has been quite warm, although very overcast. Today's blip, this white Everlasting Sweetpea, is growing near to the pink one I blipped on the 22 May 2011. It is still in bud and looks cream rather than white at this stage. I may blip it again once it is fully open, depending on what else is available in the garden.

Saffron Walden Carnival - The Judo Club

The Saffron Walden Carnival is held every three years and raises an enormous amount of money for charity, many of them local. This shows the Saffron Walden Judo Club, including some of my family members, at the end of the parade, having walked four miles in very hot sunshine.

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker

Another bird blip today and I make no apology for including it. I have photographed this bird, or one of its siblings, on several different days this week and have not had one sharp enough to include until today.

This is a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker identified as such, by the red on its forehead. 

Great Tit on Bird Feeder

I have taken blips of squirels, a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker and a vareity of other garden birds today, but decided to use this one of a Great Tit which I have cropped a little in order to see greater detail.

Moth

This moth was sitting on a leaf, but did not sit still for very long, so this is not as sharp as it should be. I took several images, but it kept moving about; as they do. It has grey wings with pale yellow edges; if I find out what kind of moth it is I will add the information later.

I have a busy day today, my grocery shopping was delivered before 0900 hours and put away very quickly after. Later I am having lunch with a colleague who I worked with for over twenty years. Then later this afternoon I will have physiotherapy for my back, which has improved slightly. 

Even later this afternoon, around tea-time, I will be looking after my grandaughter while my daughter watches my grandson play cricket.

Not sure where I will find any time to read a book on my new Kindle.

My New Toy

Today I went shopping with my daughter as this was the last chance we would have for a while to shop during the week. She starts her new full-time job on Monday at Addenbrookes Hospital.

I took her out for lunch at John Lewis where we always go and then I purchased my new toy. I have been looking at these, almost since they came out, but could not quite decide whether to puchase one. Friends tell me that once you have one you never want to go back to books; only time will tell.

This is not a particularly good blip; this is the box, as I have not yet removed it from its packaging; I am saving that for later when we have had supper!

William

He needed this mug of tea after mowing almost an acre of grass in this heat. Admittedly some of it was mowed using the ride-on-mower, but some was also done using a petrol mower which had to be pushed; not bad for someone who will be seventy on Friday.

I back blipped for yesteday as I went to the sea-side with my family and did not get back until late.  

Family and Friends on the Disco Ride

A visit to the seaside produced 458 images, how do I choose just one? In the end I went for one, which shows the happy faces of my family and some friends on the Disco ride. This was a fast action ride with the ride coming towards me and going away again so I feel I was lucky to get them all looking in the right direction and all smiling at the same time! It was a good day, very long, very hot, but certainly action packed.

 

Grey Toadstool

Another garden blip today, but from my daughter's garden and not a flower!

I found this grey toadstool lurking under some lavender bushes and nestling in with some clover plants; this is the underside of it.

I am child sitting today for my grandson Oliver and two Italian children from Livigno who are staying here for the summer. Victoria as gone to the Kent International Judo competition with her parents. It is held in London so I am not sure why it is called the Kent International! 

Tomorrow will either be a very late blip or even a back blip as, weather permitting we are all off to the seaside.

This was a tiny toadstool, the white stalk being only about two inches high and the top was just slightly smaller than a fifty pence piece. About an hour after I had taken this the sun came out and it disappeared almost as soon as it got warm. This has been identificed on iSpot as Coprinus.

Honeysuckle Flower

Another flower today. I had planned to take a picture of a rose bud with greenfly on it, which I noticed after I had posted my blip yesterday. Unfortunately the ladybirds got there first, the rose bud is still there; the greenfly have gone! Well done little ladybirds for eating the pests.

Rose of Sharon

Another flower today and this is the first Rose of Sharon to bloom in the garden. I have a large area of these, but they are not yet out. This one is in a more sheltered spot so as it had bloomed during a dull and rainy week, I thought it deserved to be included here. I still needed my Wellington boots on to take it though!

I did not notice the little bugs on the flower until I downloaded it to my computer, which shows that I still do not look carefully enough at what I am taking. However, my first excuse is that it has been very dull again today, although the sun made a brief appearance this morning, so I wanted to take something outside before it rained again. 

The second reason is that although my back problem has improved immensely, probably due to the physiotherapy I am having, I do not want to risk to much exercise at this stage.

Pink Flower

It has been raining on and off here again today so I have just dashed out in my Wellington boots, to capture something close by. That generally means a flower, when it is wet, as the insects have more sense than to be out in the rain.

I do not know what this is, it is growing in the flower border and although it looks a bit like a wild mallow, it is too low-growing to be a wild mallow.

Pink Everlasting Sweet-peas

This morning involved a visit to the dentist for a check-up, but fortunately no work needs to be done. Then this afternoon I have been working on my images for my Open University photography course.

Then, a walk round the garden to see what I could find for today's blip. I was not aware that my everlasting sweet-peas were out and there they were, some pink and some white, difficult to decide which to choose, but finally settled on the pink ones. The white ones are still in bud so you may get them tomorrow.

They are called everlasting sweet-peas here in England, not because they last forever, but because they are perennials and come up every year, unlike normal sweet-peas which have to be replanted each year.

 

Bug on White Daisy

I do not know what kind of bug this is, but when I find out, using the iSpot website, I will add to this information.

It is not as sharp as I had hoped it would be, but it kept jumping about and then disappeared althogether!

Information added - 22 June 2011 - It seems this is a Common Field Grass-hopper.