Thursday 30 April 2009

Thursday 30th April 2009

Sometimes I use one pair, sometimes I use another...



Because my eyes vary a lot I sometimes swap specs. Not that any of them actually stop me seeing double! There are two more pair somewhere - oh yes, one of them must have been on my nose at the time.

Wednesday 29th April 2009

We picked up Jo's new car today.


It is now sitting in the drive looking very clean and smart.

Tuesday 28 April 2009

Tuesday 28th April 2009

This is called My Private Place and is by Terry Kavangh .


It is on the wall in our loo – an appropriate place considering its title. It was given to Jo by the artist, prints of whose paintings have made money for Roy Castle’s Cause for Hope Foundation. When he first gave it to Jo I was not impressed but it has really grown on me and the more I sit and look at it the more I absorb the atmosphere.

Monday 27 April 2009

Monday 27th April 2009

Nothing much to photograph today except


raindrops and leaking gutters.

Sunday 26 April 2009

Sunday 26th April 2009

Early this morning -


the clouds looked like a series of spaceships about to make a pre-dawn attack.

Saturday 25th April 2009

The things Richard does for videotaping!


One thing I never thought to see in our house was an Everton shirt coming out of the wash and being dried on the rail! As part of his Media degree Richard was making a video which involved a visit to Goodison and the need to wear an Everton shirt. He took the shirt (borrowed from a friend) in a bag and wore his Liverpool one to and from the ground!

Saturday 25 April 2009

Friday 24th April 2009

This blog is becoming very fishy!


I went to Heswall today on a rare shopping expedition. I mainly went to get embroidery needles. I came back with no needles but two fantails for the fish pond!
 

Thursday 23 April 2009

Thursday 23rd April 2009

How is this for an optical illusion?


This leaf photo really is rectangular but if you stare at it it appears to taper from right to left.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Wednesday 22nd April 2009

“I really wanted a red one but.... “


Jo bought a new car today – a Hyundai Getz; the black one she's looking at in the picture.

Tuesday 21st April 2009

I spent the whole day in bed recovering from my trip to Chester Zoo. The trip was well worth it but as a consequentce I took no photos today. I shall therefore cheat and use one from yesterday.


The Zoo is not only famous for its animals but also for its magnificent gardens.

Monday 20th April 2009

I spent the day at Chester Zoo.


It was not easy picking one photo to represnt the day but I have a soft spot for Lemurs so I chose this one of a Black and White Ruffed Lemur.

Sunday 19 April 2009

Sunday 19th April 2009

A beautiful, hot, sunny day in the garden and lots of insects were around.


This 14 spot Ladybird (Propylea 14-punctata) was enjoying searching my native species hedge for aphids or anything else it could eat.

Saturday 18 April 2009

Saturday 18th April 2009

The tulips are at their peak.



Most of them are in pots which live on the patio while they are flowering and then can be moved around to a hidden corner for the rest of the year. We try to keep the patio full of foliage plants or ones that are currently in flower. In order to move house last time we had two vans - one for the household goods and one for all the flowerpots!

Friday 17th April 2009



I guess the pond needs cleaning out when a fish you haven't seen for a month suddenly puts in an appearance.

Friday 17 April 2009

Thursday 16th April 2009


Some things are so comfy it’s hard to get rid of them – even when they are a little bit worn out! Darning is not one of my accomplishments.

P.S. This photo - designed to be the one of me for April - is a cheat - I didn't take it, Jo took it.
P.P.S. Can you still buy leather elbow pads?

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Wednesday 15th April 2009

Frog he would a wooing go...


But he’s a bit late! The girls have all vacated the ponds and gone off into the shrubs and other vegetation. A pity, he’s quite a handsome chap.

Tuesday 14 April 2009

Tuesday 14th April 2009


At last, a photo of the cherry which is just beginning to drop some of its blossom.

Monday 13 April 2009

Monday 13th April 2009

Easter Monday and I took advantage of the sunshine again to photograph another couple on the patio.


This time it’s Richard and his girlfriend, Catherine. In case you think Richard looks bleary-eyed it’s because it’s late afternoon so he’s only just woken up!
 

Sunday 12th April 2009

Easter Sunday


- a family day, thanks to a visit from Helen and Ian.

Saturday 11 April 2009

Saturday 11th April 2009

The cherry will still have to wait for another day...


For the first time in the five years we have lived here we had a Siskin in the garden today. A male, it was feeding at the niger seed feeder which usually attracts the Goldfinches.

Friday 10 April 2009

Friday 10th April 2009

I am often torn between posting my best photo of the day - today it would have been the Narcissi or the cherry tree - or the one which best reflects my world.


This is the latter picture for today. No, it wasn't that bad a day. It's just that yesterday I forgot it was Good Friday today and therefore I put the brown bin out on the pavement for the binmen to empty. The collect the brown bin first thing on a Friday morning. (Brown is garden rubbish, green is general rubbish and grey is recycling - go figure!) When I remembered to bring it back in at lunchtime I found it had been emptied. So our refuse collection service functioned on a Good Friday - how strange is that?

P.S. If nothing as exciting as that happens tomorrow you may still get a picture of the cherry - unless a gale blows all the blossom off overnight.

Thursday 9 April 2009

Thursday 9th April 2009

Jo - modelling one of her birthday presents.


So we did get a photo of Jo, after all.....

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Wednesday 8th April 2009

Jo is camera shy.


So this is a photo of her on her birthday. Do you like her new scarf?

Tuesday 7th April 2009

Richard dropped Jo's laptop last week. Fortunately the house insurance paid out (less a £50 excess) so we went to Curry's today and replaced it.


Jo is delighted. Not because I paid for it to be a higher spec. than her previous one. But because it's got a blue lid!

(Now comes the boring job of uploading all the software and transferring her documents).

Monday 6 April 2009

Monday 6th April 2009


The Blue Tits are bringing materials to line their nest box. They use it every year.

Sunday 5 April 2009

Sunday 5th April 2009



It has been a most weird year as regards frog spawn in our ponds. Although we saw mating pairs of frogs earlier in the year there appeared to be no spawn. Now I have discovered there is some spawn at the bottom of one of the ponds but it hasn’t come to the surface at all and if it was laid earlier the tadpoles have obviously not developed. If it has only just been laid then why so late? I shall take some out and see if it the tadpoles hatch in a tank. In the meantime it all seems very strange.

Saturday 4th April 2009

The birds twitter from long before dawn right through to dusk and the Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons are cooing throughout the day as well.


That is when they are not goring themselves on the bird table food. I bet this one will be a lot fatter before the summer is over.

Friday 3 April 2009

Friday 3rd April 2009


The Narcissi have joined the other flowers in the garden.

Thursday 2nd April 2009


This painting is hardly bigger than a fifty pence piece. It is one of a number we bought when we had the caravan and which went into storage when we gave up the caravan. It wasn't worth putting it on the old study wall because they wouldn't have shown up against the tartan wallpaper but they show up well on the new walls.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Wednesday 1st April 2009


Still cataloguing Jo's jewellery (sounds more impressive a job than it really is!) and came across this old family piece. One can just imagine this around a Victorian or Edwardian neck with its lacey appearance.