Monday 3 August 2015

August!

Here we are, at my father's birthday who would be, if he were still with us, 95 today.  I have Paul here for a couple of weeks writing papers and working the tractor in pretty much equal quantities. He's also installed a dishwasher, joy of joys, I feel reconnected with the modern world.

wall butterfly

I promised the moth trap but haven't done it yet. The weather is good, perhaps we'll set it up tonight. In the meantime a few more butterflies have shown up. The Wall butterfly above is a reasonably frequent inhabitant but I've never spotted one on the red valerian (Centranthus ruber) before.

clouded yellow

There are one or two Clouded yellows about, and numerous silver washed Fritillarys, Peacocks and Red Admirals which don't wish to be photographed. The summer Brimstones are out too in the last couple of days. We're heading into autumn fast although the temperatures are rather gloriously hot at the moment.

green moth1

We did have one new moth, that came to the window a few days ago. A Large Emerald which is a pretty and impressive thing, as large as a butterfly and beautifully coloured.

harry's plum

In the garden the Harry's Plum tomato is doing well outside, but most of the others are struggling a bit. I think the Tondino di Manduria will do well after their accelerated start in the little tunnel and there may even be a rock melon forming up there, nestled between the tomatoes and the ridge cucumbers which is doing better than the plants in the greenhouse, profuse but barren.


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