Day 151 - May 31st

This morning whilst out walking we spotted a single solitary Bee Orchid right in the middle of the public footpath beside a field. This was a first for us. We've never seen a Wild Orchid on our walks so we obviously had to stop and photograph it. Such a shame it's in the middle of the footpath. It was hardly noticeable and could easily get trampled on.

There are also lots of wild roses in the hedgerows now.

And, an abundance of cow parsley.

Soon after getting back home we spotted a gold finch and her two babies on the rotary washing line in the back garden. 

The mother was just out of shot to the right of the picture having a good feed of Niger seed from the feeder and the two fledglings were perched precariously on the metal bars of the washing line. We watched then for quite sometime but no sooner had I got out the camera and hurriedly taken one blurry photo, they flew away into a tree and out of our sight.

Day 150 - May 30th

Today I visited the opticians with Steven. He'd been saying that he couldn't see things at a distance quite a clearly as he used to and so it came as no surprise when the optician reported that he was a little short-sighted. I had the pleasure of helping him chose a pair of glasses. Have you any idea how difficult it is to help a teenage boy chose a pair of glasses???? Maybe I'll get to post a photo of the chosen pair when we collect them next week.

Day 149 - May 29th

The apples on the apple trees are coming along nicely. Interestingly when I looked back at last years photos I didn't photograph the apples until June 23rd so I guess the apples are quite a bit earlier this year.

Day 148 - May 28th

Today I tried a new recipe found on the Tesco website - Chicken and Herb Bake with Tomatoes. It was really easy and really good. I'll be making this again.

Day 147 - May 27th

Despite the disappointing weather we are having at the moment, the flowers in the garden seem to be thriving from the regular downpours and occasional sunny spells and the number of bees busily collecting pollen (when it's not raining) has noticeably increased.

These roses have taken a bit of a battering from the rain but they're still really pretty.

Despite being neglected and forgotten about for many years, this Sea Pink growing in the old rockery flowers every year without fail.

Day 146 - May 26th

We went for another quick walk this afternoon, between the rain showers.

We went through the field of buttercups again....

... and Millie played hide and seek amongst the flowers.

Then we doubled back through neighbouring fields. No quite as many buttercups there.

The flowers on the Horse Chestnut trees have now faded and the horse chestnuts are starting to develop.

Day 145 - May 25th

In the hope that the risk of frost has now passed, today Wayne planted out the bedding plants in the raised beds in our back garden. We kept the corms from last years begonias and they have grown in lovely healthy plants which will hopefully produce lots of colourful flowers.

Day 144 - May 24th

After a rainy start to the day we decided to go for a walk this afternoon. The grey clouds were quickly blown away and the sun came out.

Although it had stopped raining the plants and grass were still very wet.

We spotted a Black and Red Froghopper (amazing what you can identify with the help of Google!)...

and a fly with very red eyes.

Day 143 - May 23rd

I've been sorting out craft supplies for a card I need to make this weekend.

Day 142 - May 22nd

As it was a nice sunny evening we decided to take Millie for a longer walk tonight over the fields.

One of the footpaths goes through a field which at this time of year is always full of buttercups.

I tried unsuccefully to take the perfect photo of Millie in amongst the flowers. She just would not sit, stay and look at me when told to. 

We noticed that in addition to the white blossom that's been around for a month or more, there is now the addition of lovely pink blossom in the hedgerows.

On our way home we walked past a field of barley and spotted lots of snails on the ears. Do snails like barley? 

Day 141 - May 21st

Today was Steven'e last day of compulsory education. His last day at school - although he will be returnign in Sepetmber to study for his A levels. He is now on study leave. He came home with a very impressive Year Book which will be a great keepsake for the future.

Day 140 - May 20th

Tonight I had to work so this was my view for the duration of the evening although there were people sitting on those seats.

Day 139 - May 19th

My cat has had a broken leg for some time. Don't worry, I don't mean Tux. I mean my  Suzie Marsh Sculpture of a very handsome black cat which stands on the windows sill in the bedroom. Unfortunately he has had a broken back leg since he was knocked off the window sill by the aforementioned Tux! Today I finally got around to sticking him back together and now he stands on four legs again.

Day 138 - May 18th

According to an email I received last week, today is World Baking Day. Yesterday, to celebrate the occasion, I baked a Rhubarb Custard Tart for today's dinner using some Rhubard that my father-in-law had given us. 

This was a new recipe for me found on a  recipe card in Tesco. I often pick up the free recipe cards with good intentions of making something new but seldom do I actually use them. This was the exception - and the tart was good too! My rhubarb doesn't look as red as that in Tesco's picture. Hmmm, do we think they may have tweaked the colours a little????

Day 137 - May 17th

Today we went to the Letchworth Food and Garden Festival. The festival takes place in the town centre over two days with food producers and sellers showing produce from the region. There is also a cookery theatre. Richard Fox of 'Morrisey Fox' was cooking when we visited.

After visiting the food festival we returned home for our own food festival in the form of our first BBQ of the year!