The maximum temperature here today 23⁰C, minimum 14⁰C. Lots more rain over the past week - we have had over 700mm to date this year; last year at the same time we had only 500mm. Wind 11km/h Westerly winds with gusts up to 27 km/h.
Today is the first time we have seen the sun since I last posted a blog, very few photos have been taken. The garden is waterlogged and the vegetables are not looking happy, well most of them are not, though the courgettes seem to be doing better than the rest. Blight is a problem with potatoes and tomatoes.
Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum).
Hydrangea, Love in a Mist, Calendula,
European umbrella milkwort plus bee with large pollen sacs, Poppy, Rose.
The Passenger Moth (Dysgonia algira).
It was in a dark corner of the house on one of my cutting boards. I tried moving the board after this shot to a lighter place. It flew off never to be seen again!
A drive-by shot the other day of the sky taken on the phone.
A friend commented that it looked like a steam train behind the clouds, sadly no, it really is a cloud.
I cannot pronounce this little fellow's name but you are welcome to try - (Deraeocoris ruber).
It was wandering around on my courgette plants.
Poppy, Love in a Mist, Cosmos (+ Tawny Longhorn Beetle [Paracorymbia fulva]), Potato flower,
Courgette, Sempervivum tectorum, Clematis, Fungi.
Love in a Mist (Nigella damascena) and wasp.
Two for the price of one.......
Longhorn beetle (Stictoleptura cordigera) and hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta).
Bush Cricket nymph....Munching away on the poppies!
Bumble bee (Bombus lucorum) I think!
As above
We have had a French stone mason here over a few days. The wall in the big barn had a crack, not serious but if not treated might well have become a problem. He and his mate have done a fantastic job and the finished job looks very good.
They did an amazing job of cleaning up, the barn is probably cleaner now than it has been for ages!
Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.
My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 20/06/2021).
See also my
Hi Diane - isn't that nice that the workers cleaned up after themselves ... so pleased the work was done and the barn is now healed! The rain has been awful for so many ... wonderful photos of all things ... your photos are gorgeous. I think the Passenger Moth was true to its name ... it moved along with some human help. I hope the veggies aren't completely wetted out ... all the best - Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary I was delighted with the work these guys did. On time, great workmanship and spotless after they left. Sadly the few English guys that we have add to do odd jobs were seldom on time and cleaning up behind their work was very half hearted!
DeleteUntil I start digging up potatoes I will not know how much harm is done there but the tomatoes are splitting badly. I just hope after all the work that has been put into it that crops will still be OK. It looks like we have a sunny week coming up 😊
Take care, cheers Diane
Hello Diane: From what we see on the news here the flooding in Europe is epic and catastrophic. Having a waterlogged garden is bad enough, and it must be sad to contemplate the loss of the vegetables, but that's something you can live with. Having said that, I hope you get some dry weather soon. I am curious as to why you point out that you have had a French worker over to fix the barn. If you live in France would you not expect the worker to be French? It is without a doubt my perverse mind, but it seems mildly racist somehow to draw attention to his ethnicity. Stay well and stay dry. David
ReplyDeleteDavid there are as many British workers here in France I think as there are French. Hardly racist, when you look for the person who does the best job. This guy is a stone mason and I do not think there are many that can claim that title who are not French. Most of the Brits living here (and there are a lot) use English workers simply because of the language barrier. Nigel's French is very capable so no problem. Having said that when I was here alone doing restoration, I had the whole roof done with the local French roofer who does not speak a word of English. He is now one of our very best friends. When the ceiling was put into our barn attached to the house he used me as his assistant. My French is terrible and we laughed from start to finish. That barn now has two offices and a spare room upstairs.
DeleteRe the rain, we are on high ground so there would never be a problem of flooding, quite simply it is saturated, but as we have a lot of clay when it dries it goes rock hard!! Vicious circle. It looks like summer might be on its way temperature predicted of 30C next week.
Keep safe, cheers Diane
So much to appreciate in this post, Diane. The flowers are gorgeous. The insects spectacular. The work on the barn looks great. Better to catch any problems early!
ReplyDeleteThanks you Marie, I agree so easy to fix the problem now not so easy later. Keep well Diane
DeleteFeast or famine with the rain. Hope the garden survives. We are finally getting some much needed rain. The barn wall repairs look great.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, nature is beautiful but it can be so cruel. So sad though when innocent lives get lost through it. yes we are very happy with the barn. Keep safe Diane
DeleteThat Hummingbird Hawk Moth is surely a magnificent creature.
ReplyDeleteI love them, but they are so fast, not always easy to get a photo. Cheers Diane
DeleteAmazing photographs Diane! I am always impressed by your macros. I enjoyed them all but the bush cricket nymph jumped out at me today. Flowers are gorgeous! Your photos are so sharp and clear. Hope the rain stops, and hope your vegetables survive. The news of the flooding over in Germany and Belgium is horrific. My niece lives in Germany but not in those areas fortunately. Good to hear you are getting better weather soon. I hope that means all across Europe. I enjoy hearing about the work on your old barn and seeing those photos. Wishing you a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise and hope you also have a good weekend. Those little nymphs are doing quite a lot of damage, but they are so cute I do not have the heart to remove them ! The floods are horrendous but thankfully we are on high ground so although we saturated it dies very quickly as we have a lot of clay in our soil. In fact a couple of the beds I had to water today, Sunday! We have had 3 dry days. Keep well Diane
DeleteBeautiful flowers and pretty insects. It is nice to have the workers do a good job and cleaning up the place after they have finished. This afternoon we had a nice contractor who came to repair our leaking gutter. We were thankful that he didn't put off the work but did it immediately after he came to see the problem. It has been very hot these few days.
ReplyDeleteIt is good when contractors can get on with a job quickly, but most of them here that are good are in high demand, so unless it is something desperate you just join the list. Thankfully we seem to have warmed up as well, not before time other than a one week spell a few weeks back when we were 40C!! Hope all is well Diane
DeleteWhat beautiful time of the years, the flowers looks amazing Diane! My favorites are the bees in the flowers are amazing,
ReplyDeleteTake care, Gloria
My small wild flower garden is looking fantastic, such a colourful mixture. I love all the pollinators they do such a great job. Keep safe and well, Diane
DeleteMind blowing post
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, a lovely compliment. Hope all is well with you, have a great week. Diane
DeleteWe have heard how europe has been getting lots of rain. Hope it dries up soon. Your up close photos are so good. Love the "Love in the mist" shot and the hairy bumble bee. The barn looks good, what do you use it for?
ReplyDeleteThe rain seems to have eased off a bit at last an it is warming up. The barn is full of all sorts, the workshop as such, the car, the mower, the trailer, boxes that I have still not unpacked (!) large bags of kindling for the fire, steps and ladder, also anything else you can think of though no kitchen sink!
DeleteHope the COVID is not causing problems where you are. Keep safe t'other Diane
Absolutely beautiful photography and presentation, Diane. The Humming-bird Hawk-moth shot is fablulous! That wonderfully attractive moth is one that we don't have in UK.
ReplyDeleteI hope that your garden soon recovers from all that rain. It's swelteringly hot here at the moment and I wish we'd had this weather when Lindsay and I were in the New Forest last week.
My best wishes to you and Nigel - stay safe - - - Richard
Merci beaucoup for the kind comment Richard. We have now had 3 dry days and I see some of the plants starting to droop already! We have a lot of clay in our soil so it dries out quite quickly, the next thing is it cracks! Now if only we could have a light shower each evening it would be perfect but nature is never perfect when it come to weather!! When do you ever hear a happy farmer 😊
DeleteStay safe and best wishes to you and the family, Diane
Beautiful shots Diane, it certainly didn't take you long to get to grips with your new extension tube, superb macros. I have seen on the news that you are having so much rain, too much. We have had quite a bit here also but it is winter. Australia is in a bit of a mess at the moment with Sydney and Melbourne in lockdown. Sometimes it's not a bad thing to live in the world's most isolated city 💛
ReplyDeleteThanks Grace, sorry I am not keeping up very well with visiting. Too much going on! Hope you stay an isolated city, I see Brisbane also has a problem now Keep safe Diane
DeleteAs normal, your pics are beautiful. I love Hummingbird moths but not seen one in years. However I have the hummingbirds. I love watching them. Barn of stones, here we have the wooden or metal barns.
ReplyDeleteWish we had the humming birds also but they do not exist in this part of the world! Almost all the barns here are very old and made of stone. Keep well Diane
DeleteBeautiful pictures
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit and the comment much appreciated. Stay safe, Diane
DeleteEnjoyed your photos very much.
ReplyDeleteThnaks Yvonne, Your comment and visit is much appreciated. Keep safe Diane
DeleteBeautiful photos. I'd send you some sunshine if I could, we have a LOT.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
This is the worst weather we have ever had, summer just got lost along the way!! Keep well. Diane
DeleteDiane, I need to visit you more often. As always, your photo's are beautiful; the flowers so colorful. I love hydrangeas but haven't had much luck. In fact, where we live now? It's difficult to have flowers with the grasshoppers. I hope you and Nigel are doing well. Take care!
ReplyDeletexoxo
We have a problem with the bush cricket nymphs but seldom do we see the adults thank goodness. We are both fine, but we go nowhere despite the fact that we are double vaccinated. I am a risk factor having had pneumonia 3xtimes so we just keep our heads down. Having said that we both feel like we need a good holiday after cancelling our tour of Italy last year. Hope all is well with you, Diane
DeleteI am very impressed with your identification of bugs - Mottled Shield Bug, (Rhaphigaster nebulosa)!
ReplyDelete