Thursday 14 August 2008

Fun day in the garden......

Decided to start my butterfly garden today....I was busily digging up turf and thinking about the wonderful wildflowers that I would plant.........out of the corner of my eye I noticed the japanese anemone had started to bloom.......
I stopped to look more closely, when the heavens opened,........
quick get the washing in......I suddenly saw a little blue butterfly flapping across the grass.......she was looking for shelter.......the washing can wait.....go and get your camera..........at full speed I ran across the garden, got my camera and started to look for the butterfly...........hope she made it........

from a distance I spied her.....Mr P says I have the eyes of a hawk........look closely she is there....I walked nearer.......


she felt my presence..........she stayed very still, sheltering under the flowers and leaves......
just I moment..... I had read that the common blue rests with its head down......this little butterfly had its head up.........was this another species........



I am sure she heard me, because right in front of my very eyes, she turned herself around......the washing by this time was soaked....actually so was I........the rain eventually stopped.......




try to get a good bird photograph Cheryl, crept around the garden, and in the hedgerow was a juvenile wood pigeon......he sat so still.............
and just to finish the nature trail....just look how perfectly the bee is balanced on the wet flower.....gosh isn't nature amazing.........





34 comments:

Meems said...

Hi Cheryl: All really wonderful photos... even the laundry on the line! It made me want to ask... do people really still hang laundry out to dry? I guess someone does... :-)

Love the little butterfly ... is it as small as our cassius blues? I'm always fascinated by the way butterflies and bees hold onto flowers so perfectly stealthily coming and going with no apparent sign of having lighted.

I LIKE your kind of fun!
Meems @Hoe&Shovel

Rose said...

I enjoyed your morning with you, Cheryl--I can see you running around trying to get the perfect photo despite getting soaked. The lovely butterfly was worth it, though. Thanks for making me smile:)
Those clothes will dry out eventually, LOL.

Cheryl said...

Hi Meems....yes people do still hang washing out....I think environmental issues etc etc.......also I love the smell of laundry that has been hung out to dry, you can't beat it.....

the blue is tiny tiny....and so delicate.....

Cheryl said...

Hi Rose......I really did get soaked but do you know I had such a lot of fun getting this post.....

Q said...

Dear Cheryl,
Nature is amazing and so are you. Little Blue has become my favorite English butterfly. The smell of laundry dried in the wind and the sun is the best smell. Pillow slips never need ironing when they come off the line.
Oh your bee is balanced perfectly.
I enjoyed being with you in the rain and in the garden. Getting your butterfly garden started is very exciting. So much joy!
Thank you,
Sherry

Dawny P said...

Lovely pictures - I love that butterfly. Was it worth you getting soaked for? Well I know you would say yes, so then it is worth it xxx

I am so with you re hanging the washing out to dry. Emma and I clash over this all the time. She hates her washing going out as she says that there are spiders near the washing line - there are but you can brush them away and it isn't like the clothes get covered. I am talking of one of 2 if that - but she really is an arachnophobe!!. So she insists on her stuff hanging on a maiden (I hate how it makes the kitchen look). But more than anything, I love the way the washing smells when it's been outside - all clean and fresh and smelling of fresh air if that makes sense. There is nothing like it. It isnt the same hanging indoors. But to each their own xxxx

Baker Watson said...

I really like that wood pigeon photo. He looks like a little soldier on guard even down to the small white epaulettes on each shoulder, though the rest of his uniform appears a bit scruffy when closely inspected. His complete attention to his solemn task is evidenced by the solitary drop of water at the very tip of his beak. Nothing shall deter him from his assigned mission.

And, yes, some do still hang out the wash. I recently threw a pair of shorts that had gotten soaked in a rain across a line outside that happens to be under a bit of a shelter. Imagine my surprise when I went to retrieve them the next day and found that a pair of wrens had already decided they made a perfect site for a new nest. I'll have to try to post some photo's of that if they will let me near enough.

Baker

Terry said...

I absolutely love all the photos from your garden! Everything is so beautiful close up! I'll be back soon to see more! :0)

Cheryl said...

Hello Sherry.....thank you, the little common blue is becoming my firm favourite....I am growing plants for him next year....I already have some host plants in the garden......clover is one also birds foot trefoil, and I grow both.....

the bee is just perfect....

you are so right, washing that has been in the fresh is wonderful especially bed linen.....

Cheryl said...

Dawny getting soaked is something that happens to me regularly....the rain never puts me off......and yes it was worth it, without a shadow of a doubt....

I love my washing outside......the smell hhhmmmmm lovely.....when you get into bed that lovely fresh smell, can't beat it......

to be fair though it must be dreadful to be that afraid of spiders, I do understand that one....we all have our fears.....

Cheryl said...

Hi Baker I am so relieved that other people hang their washing out....I thought I was the only one who still did.......

I to loved the wood pigeon....I wondered how many people would notice the drip of water on the end of his beak.....

Can't wait to see the wrens nest....should make interesting reading......

Rambling Woods said...

Hello..I came via Fish and Frog Blog and I love that you are like-minded. I too have trying to garden for wildlife and use my blog as a nature journal....It sure has been raining alot...Michelle

Susie said...

Hi Cheryl, I think it's so funny how we bloggers forget about everything that is going on around just to see if we can get a great picture of nature in action.

beckie said...

Cheryl, I can just see you running through the rain with your camera. :) I know you didn't care at all if you got wet as long as you got to see the little blue and get a picture. The pigeon look wonderful-and I love the balancing bee! Have a great week end.

Cheryl said...

Thanks Michelle I will pop along sometime......

Cheryl said...

Hi Susie....I do it all of the time....nature comes first in this house.....

Cheryl said...

Hi Beckie....you have to get your priorities right and nature does it everytime for me.....

Leanne said...

Oh yes, washing on the line is soo 'proper' I dont have a tumbledrier, nor do i want one!

beautiful photos cheryl, i love the bee's little legs balancing on the rimlike edges of the flower- gorgeous!

Cheryl said...

Hi Leanne.....I love hanging my washing out....I love the smell....why tumble dry when you have good fresh air outside.....

He is a lovely bee and so perfectly balanced.....

Mary said...

Dear Cheryl, I need to take some time this weekend to catch up with you. You are so poetic. Your photos are fabulous. And I especially like the way you add your thoughts while trapsing around in the rain trying to capture a butterfly - and you did it very well! I'd be right behind you with my camera...a little rain won't ruin the clothes on the line!

Bird more more challenging, I know. You got it!

Hugs,
Mary

Cheryl said...

Hi Mary....patience is a virtue and fortunately that is one of mine......tku for your encouraging comments, I am finding birds so difficult to capture but I will get there eventually!!!!!

Sheila said...

WE have nothing but rain this summer, and it has begun to thunder again as I'm typing this.
Very few butterflys around here this summer, just a few cabbage whites and moths..?
Still, if I could fly, I'd be somewhere drier too...!

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

You a woman after my own heart! I'd forget about the laundry for a great butterfly photo anyday. I think you made the right choice. ;)

Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

Anonymous said...

Oh My Cheryl...Heavenly photos as always...They are all beautiful:)TFS!!!
Have a great Weekend:)x

Cheryl said...

Hi Sheila....it saddens me to read on some many blogs about the shortage of butterflies this year.....I fear next year will be bad for these beautiful creatures....I am just starting a small garden for them, I hope that will help the problem here......

Cheryl said...

Laundry or butterfly....no contest Cindy.....

Cheryl said...

Thanks Terrie....have a great weekend to.....

Steve said...

Excellent picture of the Common Blue Cheryl! You can imagine how much washing we have in our house with 4 little ones...never ending!

marmee said...

i love the fact that the laundry was not the most important thing on your mind after seeing all the lovely photos you were able to capture. hoorah!:D for throwing caution to the wind and living in the moment! your image of the bee on the wet all white flower-fantastic! all the photos were so fun to see and your laundry beautiful as well, flapping in the wind. i also hang some of my laundry on the line-it is right next to my wildflower garden so i get to watch the wild life as i hang>

Cheryl said...

Hi Steve.....I would not want to do the ironing in your home.....hope family are well....

Cheryl said...

Hi Marmee...thank you....I always try to live in the moment, life is more fun that way....

washing line by the wildflower meadow....sounds delightful.....

Marimoy said...

As always, love the photos... at meems: I still hang my clothes to dry as well. Not for environmental issues (although I have been a "treehugger" forever) but just cause I like it. It forces me to spend time outside, which I love, and soak up some Vitamin D. Love it.

Cheryl said...

Mimi just love that comment tku.....

Wendy said...

I often leave my washing to get soaked too - by the time I get it all off the line, it's usually wet. And, if you're chasing a beautiful blue butterfly - well, the washing can wait!
Lovely photos. That butterfly was really worth it.