13/06/2018 A walk in the garden.

Beefly - Bombylius species...

They fascinate me - especially the back legs 😊...

They really love the lavender...

As above.

Bumblebee on the cotoneaster...

as above.

Carnation and bud with a tiny insect.

Day Lilies

Bee Beetle (Trichius fasciatus) on the cotoneaster...

Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata) on the cotoneaster.

Trichodes alvearius and yes, also on the cotoneaster!

Bumble bee.

Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae) on the lavender.

Californian poppy and the smallest spotted beetle ever.  I have no idea what it is!

Echeveria coming into bud. I generally get one or two flowers, but this year there are a dozen or more.

Daddy longlegs; I think it is (Pholcus phalangioides).

N.B. My bird blog is updated  HERE 

Part 13 of the birds seen in Africa.

06/06/18 Around the garden

Maximum temperature today 21C, minimum 15C.    Rainfall 34 mm measured since my last post; 15 km/h South Westerly winds with up to 38 km/h gusts.

Total rainfall since 1st January; 606 mm and more rain today!

Too dark to paint today so here is another catch-up post.  Photos taken over several days when there was a glimmer of sun between rain!

I managed to cut the lawn at the weekend but it was quite wet...

as above.

Love in the mist, and with what I believe to be a fly or bee of some kind covered in pollen

Rosebud with an Oxythyrea funesta chomping away on the petals! Note the small fly on the top of the petal on the right.

Bee Beetle (Trichius fasciatus)  on the cotoneaster...

as above.

Carnation growing in amongst the rosemary!

Day Lilies.

Cotoneaster with an unknown beetle.  I only saw the beetle when I looked at the photo which was taken of the flowers!

Fungus on the wood pile. Possibly Trametes versicolor, often called the "turkey tail.

Granny Smith apples.

Potato plants.

N.B. My bird blog is updated  HERE 

Part 12 of the birds I saw last year in Africa.

31/05/2017 Where did May go to????

Maximum temperature 22C, minimum 13C.  18 km/h NE wind.  Just had a shower as I type this and more promised over the next few days.

Drone-fly (Eristalis tenax)

Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina)

As above.

Day Lily.

Climbing rose.

Chafer possibly Cetonia cuprea

Hoverfly (Syrphidae family)

as above.

Chafer (Oxythyrea funesta)

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

as above.

 Bee Beetle (Trichius family)

Banded snails.

6 jars of Cherries in Maraschino and 4 jars of jam.

30/05/2017 A misty drive to the Physio for my back and a walk around the garden later

Maximum temperature 23C, minimum 13C.  5 km/h N wind.  Yesterday's light rain did not measure at all!  Back to watering.

Misty drive but no rain as expected...

as above...

as above.

Our Azalea has at last come into flower.

Bee Beetle (Trichius family) ...

as above

Bee at work...

As above...

As above, but different bee, note the pollen sacs...

As above.

Finally a bumble bee.