In the Wood (England July 2008)

There is nothing like the green coolth of the English wood, especially to someone from Texas

Amid the Corn On the Way to the Wood (England July 2008)

Looking north


East


Down


East again


Heading back to the village

Tiny Ivory (England July 2003)

Snowball Cottage (England July 2008)

I love Snowball Cottage! But why is it so named? Perhaps a plant that bursts into snowball-like blooms at time of the year other than mid-July?

Still Here (Frog or Toad)

As of Sunday evening, still tiny, still outside the kitchen window, but in a new spot where we can see him from within

Scorpions 2 & 3, 2008

Scorpion #3 I found just after I came back from England. I had picked up the dish that we keep at the back of the stove that I put onions in and was cleaning it of old dried onion skins, and there beneath one bit of skin was this dead, junior scorpion. I saved its body. Very interesting to be able to look at it up close at leisure.


The backside


The underneath

Scorpion #2 I have no photo of, and he wouldn't normally be included in the count, as he was outside; but he IS included in the count because he almost fell onto my head when I opened the door to the shed on July 4th. They count if they come into such close range, even if it's outside.

It's a lesser scorpion year. Not that I am complaining—but you know, I'd rather have the scorpions than the brown recluses.

The Church by Night (England July 2008)

I'm trying to get better acquainted with my camera's manual side; these are the best of a series of sitting by the open bedroom window using a stack of books in lieu of a tripod and trying out different f-stop settings.

Brown Recluses 2008: Nos. 6 & 7 (!)

These photos are of 2008 Brown Recluse #7, found last night in the bathroom on the floor behind the trash can. He did not want to be seen or found or bothered (as they are reclusive, you know). He was released this morning behind our well house. The photo above is the best I've taken of their eyes, I think! And you can see the handsome pedipalps. Pedipalps are enlarged in a male, but if you don't know what size unenlarged pedipalps are, it doesn't help much with male/female identification.


I am sorry to say that 2008 Brown Recluse #6 was inadvertently killed while I was scooping him into the catch-and-release container. I had noticed Loretta Cat watching something behind her sleeping area; I went to see what she was looking at and found a recluse stalking a june bug. I am sorry that it was killed; it was not my intent. I saved its body and took some pictures but they are not very nice or interesting to look at after all, so I shan't post them.

So after catching him/her/#7 last night, I dreamed that I was bitten on the armpit from rolling over on a brown recluse during the night. It does seem to have been only a dream, for which I am glad.

The Garden from Above (England July 2008)

The Garden (England July 2008)

I learned from Trevor, who lives in the village, that in the early 1800s, before the yard & house were the slaughterhouse and butcher shop (which I'd known), there was a market on the site. The garden wall dates at least to the time of that market.


The bench on the right is the one which Molly sits on a few posts back; I'm behind it and behind me is the house. The blue door at the end of this post is beyond the far back left of this shot.






I love this blue door. Which, by the way, is a different color blue than the blue doors of many houses in the village that signify ownership by the lord.

The Tiny Zebra

I made this! A present for Baby Metallica

Cat in Graveyard (England July 2008)

In the Village Church (England July 2008)

There are several frescos in the church. This is the brightest and therefore presumably the newest. Somewhere I have the printed sheet with these details, but I have mislaid it.

The others are quite a bit older:

This is the ferryman who carried Christ across the ford and hence got his name, Christopher (oferer of Christ—not sure if "oferer" is spelled correctly).


A fish nibbling Christopher's leg


The Tree of Life

Very poor pictures interior; the last is enhanced and so more vivid here than it really is, but it's rather dim in the church and I had no tripod and, well, I have a lot to learn about this photography business.

The Caged Pooh (England July 2008)

My Aunt's Cat (England July 2008)

Molly


Yes, she does look rather put out most of the time, but she's really very sweet and loving, despite the grim face.

The Village Churchyard (England July 2008)

If I remember correctly, the church dates back to the 1100s; it is Norman (I hope I have that right). I haven't seen graves that old but many stones are quite unreadable. It's a beautiful, quiet graveyard, and the church is very beautiful, too, in its modest and unassuming way.

The Giant Bee (?): Another Fleeting Photo

Junior Cardinals

At least three of our cardinal babies have made it. There are two (one male, one female) that are old enough to have colored beaks now, and one that is still brown all over and hanging with mum and dad. The little male is the most curious transitioning-to-adulthood bird that I've ever seen.




Hugh just wondered if he is a mutant; his little head looks so VERY odd in this photo.

The Giant Bee

These photos are dark. I will continue stalking the giant bee in hopes of getting some better shots. I'm not even sure it IS a bee...its wings are somehow unbeelike. And it's huge.

The Cunning Frog (Toad?)

Frog or toad? He looks too smooth to be a toad. Hugh called me into the kitchen to see a giant red wasp flying upwards gripping something like a locust carcass (which I missed, except for the last dangling of legs moving upwards); when I went outside to see what there was to see, I found this guy perched on the top of the window frame. He was so still and small that I first took him for a mud dauber's nest; then I saw his little throat pulsing. I've never seen one with this unusual spotting around here before. Just went out to assess his size—he's not more than two inches long, and perhaps only one and a half inches.

It Was HOW Hot on Friday??

On our very own front porch Friday evening (photo compliments of Hugh)