Day 182 - June 30th

My mum and dad recently had their 66th Wedding Anniversary so this weekend we celebrated with a family meal out.

Day 181 - June 29th

This morning we did a circular walk from the village of Roydon. The walk was quite varied with a stretch walking alongside the River Stort, some open countryside and a walk through the village itself.

We started right in the heart of Roydon before turning to walk beside the river.

We passed a few boats moored alongside the river and a huge marina too.

On this stretch of the river there was a lot of Himalayan Balsam growing. Introduced as a garden plant in the 1930s it soon escaped and became naturalised alongside riverbanks and ditches. Its rapid spread and disruptive nature soon classified it as a highly invasive species. Its very pretty though!

We were quite pleased to spot this Little Egret sitting on the opposite side of the river.

At the furthest part of the walk, we reached Dobbs Weir. We have visited before but it's still an interesting place to stop for a moment.

Today there was a sawn and her cygnet and coots in the water.

We walked around Glen Faba lake where there were lots dragonflies and butterflies.

Finally we headed up a fairly steep hill and through some fields back to Roydon.

Day 180 - June 28th

Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

Day 179 - June 27th

In our tubs this year we have some pink Diascia. They look lovely.

Day 178 - June 26th

This evening we went for a walk at the Weston Hills Nature Reserve. It was a warm evening and very, very humid.

There are claimed to be six species of orchid growing in the reserve and we found some of these.

We were also surprised to find what appeared to be small, wild sweet-peas growing.

On our way home, we drove past Baldock Services off of the A1 and noticed that the Pyramidal Orchids which grow there are again in full flower.