Grayling Butterfly

Spot the grayling.......almost impossible. It must be the world's most cryptic butterfly. Lucky we have them in our neck of the woods as they prefer this slag bank stone.....but finding one is a whole new ball game ! 

Garden vegetables and a spaced-out cat !

 

This is the harvest every day. Two freezers now close on full. Beautiful home-grown veg, can't beat it. Some of these peppers have been grown outside. A few years ago that would have been impossible but the ever warming world now makes it easy. I freeze around 10lb of tomatoes every day. They make our sauce bases throughout the year. The beans have also been a bumper harvest this year. Simply delicious.

Still harvesting new potatoes in August. These were scrumptious with butter and a sprinkle of salt. Simon has just put a new bed of potatoes in for Christmas harvesting.

We grew some catnip for Pixi this year. She doesn't go far from it some days. Here she is sat with it in the greenhouse after rubbing her face through it......high as a kite !!

We can see you in your cat nip !

Fish and Chips

 

This deserves a post all to itself......haddock and chips from Johnson's in Gainsborough. They never disappoint,  beautiful white fish in crispy batter, chips and scraps and cooked to perfection, delicious !

A few recent pics and garden catch up

 

Yellow Wagtail

2 juvenile whitethroats, their parents were still around keeping an eye on them

Toft Newton Reservoir

Just us two, no fishermen at all nowadays, perfect stillness. Like our own private pond !

Sparrowhawk

Linnet

and a garden warbler, feeding chicks so we left it well alone

And now a few from the garden.....

Our courgettes have been spectacular this year, but to be honest, we are getting a bit fed up of them now and they don't freeze too well so all the neighbours are getting plenty aswell.  Might not grow them next year or perhaps not as many !

Jamaica Dahlia......absolutely spectacular this year !

Fuchsia, they haven't done that well this year and we have hundreds of fuchsia plants. Don't think they like the scorching heat and we were away in June when we had the hottest day so they might have got a bit dry and stressed. The weather seems to have changed this last week and they now all have buds and are looking a lot healthier so hoping for a September flush !

Love a garden bouquet xx

A happy tomato below !!

We are having a fantastic tomato harvest this year, we get a few ponds every day infact yesterday I froze 8lb of them. Our two freezers are filling up and we still have the money makers still to ripen and the main bean harvest to get. A brilliant year, no complaints at all.

The peppers....well just look at them, they are spectacular and so sweet. It's like a harvest festival table !

Dunlin, Toft Newton Reservoir, Lincs

 

A lovely walk round the reservoir this morning with this confiding dunlin feeding in the flotsam and jetsam !