Day 181 - June 30th

I had hoped to post photos of school sports day today but due to the extreme temperatures it was cancelled. Had to resort instead to posting a photo of the garden. Well, what I seem to be finding laying all around the garden at the moment, and as Wimbledon is on at the moment it seemed appropriate.

Day 180 - June 29th

I went to the dentist this morning to have a filling that had fallen out replaced but, after drilling, the dentist changed his mind and decided the tooth needed taking out instead. He said that afterwards I should spend the day resting so I took him at his word and I took the laptop into the garden this afternoon and caught up on some programmes I'd missed on IPlayer and then surfed the net.

Day 179 - June 28th

Wayne and Christopher went fishing and took the camera with them but the results weren't good so fishing photos will have to wait until next time.

Wayne was watering my parents garden this evening when he showed me a bug he's noticed on one of the gorgeous Lilies I posted a photo of a couple of days ago. Of course I had to take a photo of it because of its striking colour and then googled it to find out what it was. Shock horror it was a Red Lily Beetle which the RHS website says "the adults and larvae can devour a lily plant in a matter of days". So back I went and got rid of the critter and hope he was the only one and that I won't find a load more tomorrow otherwise I'm going to have to get some pest spray.

Day 178 - June 27th

Wayne and Christopher are going fishing tomorrow. Lara always likes to join in when they are digging up worms in readiness and today was no exception. She doesn't really like bugs and insects but worms are a different matter and shes more than happy to pick them up and put them in their pot.

Day 177 - June 26th

I took todays photo first thing this morning just in case the weather stopped me from going outside to take something else. It's a good job I did because today has been really wet with thunder and lightening at times too.

I took a photo of Lara's school reading book. I thought it would be interesting in a years time to look back and see how her reading has developed. I did laugh at the book though - it is SO old. I went to the same village school as Lara when I was her age and as the book has a publication date in the 1960s its possible that I read this very same book myself. LOL

Day 176 - June 25th

Before my parents went on holiday they left me with strict instructions that if this lily in their garden flowered I was to take a photo of it because by the time they get back it will be well past it's best. Well one of the five blooms is now flowering so here's the photo.

Day 175 - June 24th

Went out into the garden looking for inspiration this afternoon but wanted something other than plants to photograph. I spied these old pots and an old broken spade lurking behind the greenhouse and liked the rustic look of them.

Day 174 - June 23rd

I turned to the garden for inspiration again today.

Day 173 - June 22nd

One of the children gave DH some beers yesterday for Fathers Day. I'm not a beer drinker myself but they certainly do look refreshing with the sun shining through the bottles.

Day 172 - June 21st (Father's Day)

Before I post todays photo Deb asked yesterday how I got the white background in my photo of the strawberries. It was really simple Deb - nothing technical. I just put the strawberries on a sheet of white card and laid it on the ground outside in the sunshine. Then making sure I didn't get my shadow in the shot I took a photo using the macro setting. I've done this too inside but just put the card and the object I'm photographing near a window to get the natural light.

On to today......

As today was Father's Day Wayne was given the choice of what we did today. He chose for us to go to Wrest Park for the afternoon again. The fact that as members of English Heritage we get in for free, so it's a cheap afternoon out, possibly swayed his decision! LOL We even managed to get eldest son to join us.

I took loads of photos again but hopefully what I've uploaded toady are of different parts of the park than those I've posted before.

The photo I chose as my photo of the day is this one of a corner of the West Flower Garden.

There aren't that many flowers at Wrest Park but alongside one wall is flower border which at the moment is lovely. There are several climbing and bush roses ..........

Some lovely peonies and honeysuckle and this plant which I haven't a clue what it is but it's very unusual..........

This statue, and another like it, stands at one end of the border either side of some very grand gates into the walled kitchen garden which unfortunately isn't open to the public.......

We stopped off at the Dog's Cemetery during our visit which is hidden away in the wooded area. There is a monument surrounded by a number of grave stones of dogs owned by the Grey family and date from the late 19th century. Some are difficult to read but some have been restored and are quite clear.

We stopped for a little while on the Chinese Bridge .............

and then headed off to the Amphitheatre which is next to the Bowling Green House ..........

The children love to roll down the hill which forms the amphitheatre!

We had a lovely afternoon. The only sad part was when we saw the family of swans on the canal. Last week there were seven cygnets. This week there were only six! We wondered what happened to the seventh.

Day 171 - June 20th

The first fruits of our harvest.

Today a grand total of three strawberries were ready to be picked. They smell absolutely divine. You can't get better than English strawberries unless they are home grown English strawberries.

Day 170 - June 19th

A friend suggested that I should take a photo of the daily trip to/from school as part of 365 so that's todays photo. Lara on her scooter, half way home. Only had my phone with me so had to use that. Normally we walk with a handful of other children and parents but on this occasion Lara was last out of school so everyone else had already gone.

Day 169 - June 18th

Had to pop into town to the dentist this morning so took the camera with me.

I wasn't brave enough to take a photo at the dentists and could have kicked myself for not taking a photo of the town crier who was out Oyez-ing about a sale at one of the shops so my photo for today is just a general view of part of the High Street. My very first job, 26 years ago, was at the bank in the photo - the large white building centre right of the picture.

Day 168 - June 17th

I photographed this blackbird in a tree in the garden. There have been several pairs of blackbirds in the garden lately collecting food. I've not seen any nests or baby birds but I'm sure there must be some somewhere. I shall have to be more observant and try and watch where the adult birds are going although that may prove difficult at the moment because every time I've been in the garden this week I've been sneezing like crazy. Not ideal when your trying to be quiet and still so you can watch the birds. The pollen levels must be really high.

Day 167 - June 16th

Fuchsia 'Walz Jubelteen'

Day 166 - June 15th

I bought these new sweets for the children. They are advertised as having no artificial colours or flavours and containing fruit juice. They taste quite nice but if the two youngest read the list of ingredients I don't think they would eat them - they include Nettle extract, Spinach extract, Fruit and vegetable concentrates (Carrot, Black Carrot, Pepper, Hibiscus, Spinach, Nettle).

Day 165 - June 14th

Today was a wonderfully hot, sunny day so this afternoon we paid another visit to Wrest Park.

I took LOADS of photos (as I always do when we visit) so thought as I posted a photo of the main house last time that this time I would post some of the grounds. Apologies for a VERY heavy photo post.

My photo of today is of the domed pavilion (originally called the Banqueting House) which stands at one end of a long canel and was designed in by Thomas Archer in 1709. It is hexagonal on the outside and circular inside with winding stairs going up to tiny rooms.

The photo was taken at a distance of the back of the building so here's a few more photo - one from the far end of the canal ...............

one from outside the front of the buiding ...........

and this one from the back but a bit closer.

We also remembered to take a family photo on the steps at the front (something we do everytime we visit). We are getting quite good at taking family photos with the camera on a timer.

There are lots of buildings, monuments and follies in the gardens. This next one is the Bowling Green House.

This one is the orangery, and a view from the front of it.

My favourite building is the Bath House. It is very rustic looking with a part thatched roof and the floor is made of pebbles and knuckle-bones! There is a punge pool in it which it fed from a spring. Unfortunately the sun was behind the building so I didn't get the best shot today.

I also managed to take a few windlife photos. This swan and her cynets were particularly cute and the photo would have been my photo of the day if last Sundays photo hadn't been a swan!

We saw morehens nesting in the middle of the water.

I was luck enough to have a hugh dragonfly land just in front of me.

and the damsel flies were out in force sunnign themselves.

Day 164 - June 13th

Today I went to a crop at Stamp Addicts so I photographed the racks of Bazzill Cardstock as my photograph for today. Love the colours.

Day 163 - June 12th

Today has been gloriously sunny, the pollen levels have been high (groan!) and the insects have been out in force in the garden.

I chased several hyperactive bees round the garden this afternoon taking photos as they alighted on the various flowers but in the end settled for this photo of one on the Osteospermum (Cape Daisy) as my photo of the day.

I was tempted to post a photo of two very happy bees I found having a jolly time on some spray carnations, but thought better of it. LOL

Day 162 - June 11th

This is the street where I grew up although the house I lived at is further down the road, out of shot. But the timber framed building in the centre of the photo is of special interest to me. It is called 'The Old Bakehouse' and until two generations ago it was the ancestral home of my mothers family who were the village bakers. The last time I went inside the building it still had the old bread ovens which had been made a feature. Its a lovely old building and I would love to live there.

Day 161 - June 10th

Today I went with Lara's school on a trip to Whipsnade Zoo. It persistently rained and we all got very wet and cold. I took a few photos of the animals but none were very good so I chose this photo of Lara sitting in the rain waiting for the sealion show, as my photo of the day as it sums up perfectly our trip to the zoo

Day 160 - June 9th

I've hit an inspiration wall so apologies for the dullness of todays photo.

I had a good day on Ebay yesterday. Eight of the nine items I put up for auction sold and all for more than the starting price. They weren't high value items but it was good to get rid of some of the clutter. So, my photo today is of some of the parcels already to be shipped off to their new homes.

Day 159 - June 8th

Lacking inspiration again today so resorted to the garden ..... again!

Sempervivum I think!

Day 158 - June 7th

After it stopped raining this morning we went into town for an hour or so. We fed the birds by the river including this swan. We got mobbed by dozens of hungry pigeons. There were also a family of ducks with 5 ducklings but unfortunately they were too fast for me to get a decent photo.

Day 157 - June 6th

I was struggling today to find anything to photograph. The weather has been abysmal and we were stuck inside. Then later in the afternoon, after cleaning out the fish, tank we decided to pop to The Japanese Koi Co Aquatic Superstore. I am not the least bit interested in Koi but we needed some blood-worms for the goldfish and knowing that the Koi Centre has them it was the nearest place to go. They stock all manner of tropical, marine and cold water fish (including some Koi which cost over £2,000 each!), reptiles, small mammals, birds and parrots as well as all the paraphernalia that goes with them. It is always, always, always busy, often with people at the weekend queuing outside in their cars to get in before they open. I really don't understand the attraction!



Anyway, as well as the fish and the animals there is also a small area of display gardens which was opened sometime ago by Charlie Dimmock. So after taking some photos of the Koi as my photo of the day, we wandered round the display gardens and I managed to snap a few more photos.

And, Lara liked this fountain in the car park so I took a photo of that too!