Just testing something
Mar. 15th, 2014 08:38 pm
Sharing from Flickr using what is by now practially stone-age technology -- right-click on the 500x500 image to get the image link, then code in the photo page link by hand.
Sharing from Flickr using what is by now practially stone-age technology -- right-click on the 500x500 image to get the image link, then code in the photo page link by hand.
(no subject)
Apr. 6th, 2013 04:59 pm
It's been a long time coming, but today is actually something like a spring day, although it's rather late in the year for the crocuses to be in their full glory!
Winter wonderland
Jan. 21st, 2013 04:50 pmAfter a week of feeble flurries, we finally got some worthwhile snow last night, coating every tree and fence.
I spent the week in Surrey, which was interesting -- very rural in a densely-populated way, with big old houses and narrow, twisty roads through the woods. The big old house where I was foregathering with other scientists had a little lily pond on the terrace, haunted by enormous dragonflies. It also had a couple of used twenty-foot rockets in the oak-panelled staircase, but I didn't get a really good shot of that.
And now I'm back home, tired, and planning to take next week off.
Hunting Gray Heron
May. 2nd, 2011 07:17 pm
Moments later, the heron took a couple of very slow, cautious steps, as if playing Grandmother's Footsteps, and then pounced out of view. When we saw him again, he had a beakful of wriggling fish, which he proceeded to gulp down.
Now the daffodils are really out
Mar. 24th, 2011 08:33 pm
The last couple of days have been warm and sunny, and all the daffodils seem to have opened at once. I was out and about yesterday, and in between errands I spent an hour in the Botanical Gardens, where there were daffodils of all shapes and sizes, including some in situations where I didn't need to kneel on the dirt to get to their level.
(no subject)
Mar. 19th, 2011 09:30 pm
We went back to Whirlow this afternoon. The daffodils are still not really out, except for a few here and there, but some of the rhododendrons are starting to flower. (In other news, daffodils are not the easiest flowers to photograph, what with their habit of looking down and their penchant for shady corners!)
If they can keep up the weeding on the rock garden, which has been quite extensively cleared and replanted, and maybe get rid of the dead maple by the pond, it should be quite pretty there in the summer. The pond badly needs dredging, though.
More Spring
Mar. 16th, 2011 11:26 pmIt was foggy and drizzly and dismal again today, and I didn't bother taking the real camera into town. But the trees in the Peace Garden -- something of the apple persuasion, I suspect -- were covered in blossom, so I did what I could with the phone. I'm coming to the conclusion that the phone camera may actually be optimized for moderate close-ups in good light. The light was not great today, but this didn't come out too badly, I think.
Not just crocuses
Mar. 8th, 2011 10:33 pm
These flowers on bare twigs (willow?) are tiny, but exquisite. There was some kind of small brown bird -- not a sparrow -- hopping around in the branches, too.
They're working on the long-neglected rock garden at Whirlow Brook Park; the rockery has been cleaned out and planted with new shrubs. It's not very attractive at the moment, but it should be an improvement once it settles in. On the other hand, the lovely red maple by the (badly silted-up) lily pond looks awfully dead. The Mexican skunk cabbage is just starting to sprout, making splashes of yellow-green as bright and unnatural-looking as neon plastic.
The Winter Garden in central Sheffield currently features a couple of little water sculpture/fountain gadgets; I only spotted this one today.
(It was a glorious day, and I was quite peeved when my camera ran out of juice after taking this video and a couple of shots.)
( Flickr video under the cut )
(It was a glorious day, and I was quite peeved when my camera ran out of juice after taking this video and a couple of shots.)
( Flickr video under the cut )More crocuses
Mar. 1st, 2011 07:55 pmThe mobile camera is a bit hit-or-miss, but I'm pleased with this one, snapped on my way to the shop this lunchtime.
