My Patch in June!

Well June is really in bloom, we have roses galore since the beginning of the month, and far more prolific than I have seen them in a few years! Such a welcoming sight in the driveway.

Apart from flowers which I could rave about, I have had a few discoveries - for some it maybe quite normal to have spotted them before - for me however new and exciting sightings!

Firstly I will share my yearly shot of the beautiful HummingBird Hawkmoth
  "The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is a small, day-flying hawk-moth. Hummingbird Hawk-moths are summer visitors,  In some years, they can be common and may frequently be seen in gardens hovering like hummingbirds to feed on the nectar of Honeysuckle, Red Valerian and many other flowers. They can also be found in woodland edge, heath and shrubby habitats. The caterpillar feeds on various species of bedstraw, so the female adult moth lays her eggs on the buds or flowers of these plants"  
I love them, I could watch them for hours and yes sometimes I spend a good hour trying to get another shot of it's amazing whirring body as it works itself around the Lavender bushes! I was delighted to count as many as 10 in one area on Monday! 

at flight between stems

Last week was the turn of the Green Tree Frog - we discovered him in our swimming pool sitting happily on the pump area, but we needed to empty and clean the pool so I had the wonderful job of holding him and re-homing him! 

 

The trouble is every time I went to go and do something else in the garden, I ended up going back to the Frog to see where he was and what he was up to! I also regret not changing lenses but the Sigma is playing up again so it's more hassle than it's worth in many ways as the 200mm still gets the shot but of course I can't get in so close!

I then discovered this insect and no amount of googling has given me a definitive answer as yet - I think I might have to do a "shout out" and see if anyone knows? My last results show a Common Long Horned Beetle, so if it is then that's another newly spotted critter in the garden!

On my travels around the garden I have also spotted the "long horned Bee"  endangered in the UK but hopefully it will migrate here and have a chance!

And if that wasn't enough for new discoveries in the same week we found "aliens" in our bucket of water - oh ok, they are not really aliens but I am sure I could be forgiven for thinking along those lines? 

 Drone Fly Larvae or Rat tailed Maggots. The "Tail" is actually a snorkel to help them breath - how clever is Mother Nature? 

 Drone-Flies don’t just mimic the appearance of honeybees, they fly like them too. Recent research has shown that the flight behaviour of Eristalis tenax is more similar to the flight of the honeybee than to that of related flies.

Because ‘rat-tailed maggots’ are associated with unsavoury rotting material in stagnant water, archaeologists who have found the remains of many of these larvae in deposits from a site in central London believe this confirms that the city must have been a very smelly place in medieval times.

And last but really not least - we found a Glow Worm - I haven't seen many of these around over the years, such a bright little fella this one!

"The adults (of both sexes) cannot feed and live only a short time. They glow, but only intermittently. Their sole purpose is to mate, and for the female to lay eggs. Adult insects are poor fliers and so will often remain in the same area, building a colony of glowworms. The female lays a total of about 130 eggs, in clumps of 40 or 50, and dies soon after laying. The eggs hatch after about 20 days and the cycle repeats.

The larvae are sensitive to light and disturbance and will retreat into their nests and stop glowing if they or their snares are touched. Generally they have few predators. Their greatest danger is from human interference."

This is what I love about my "life through the lens" not only do I learn along the way about Mother Nature it's also about enjoying the garden, wildlife and so much more! I do love the other aspects of my work as much but sometimes it's the follow up from taking the photograph.

Have a wonderful weekend - we are off to the beautiful Ilê de Ré for a couple of days with our bikes :D

For further photos of "Life through the Lens" please do visit me at https://www.facebook.com/PamelaJaynePhotography 

PamelaJayne

June - done!

I cannot believe that we are at the end of JUNE! I had so many other things to fit in as well.....!!

Although it went quickly we have had much fun during the last couple of weeks - hubby dear has been run of his feet, busy with work - which is great and almost felt like the old 9am -10pm days of old!

The weather has been rotten to say the least - it didn't get any better for the Marché de Fermier so I had to give that a miss as well - sadly! It is hard when events are set for outdoors and your products are just not waterproof!

We had a good weekend in spite of the weather though and Naomi had her "end of term concert" with her singing group...it was a mix of Singers, Dancers and Tap Dancers.

The Tap group - that I did belong to!

Then it was back to Chez nous for a pre- birthday dinner for Rob's impending day on the Wednesday.....

So another Birthday meal en-Famille and now onto the week ahead with that rather long fork !

I was a tad annoyed at myself however as all week I had been talking about the "Super Moon" and that it would knowing our luck be cloudy, about  22h00 I remembered so dashed out to the garden and could see it through the trees, so back indoors grabbed the camera (forgot the tripod) and yomped round to the back lanes to see what I could get!

I do wonder if I should have had the tripod but never mind - it was a lovely bright moon and hopefully I will have another chance in 14 months time!!

First sunny day for ages and ages! so Breakfast on the Balcone!

Birthday Boy et moi!

Whilst Rob was on a call the girls and I took a walk around the lac at Sauzé Vaussais - taking in nature!

A really lovely walk with the girls and Scooby somewhere very peaceful but I should imagine it gets busy later on in the year!

The evening spent visiting Paw-in-Law pre-op and then a birthday meal out with Maw-in-Law and then back to Chez Snrs with Scooby - who enjoyed a traipse around the garden with me before the sun went down!

Another day dawns and on our way back from having a lovely coffee and chat with my friends in Dept 16 I went off Butterfly spotting ..... I could watch them for hours - so pretty, so busy but so relaxing compared to the Hummingbird Hawkmoth and Bumble Bees!

Saturday was a busy one for us! 2 Baptisms within the same family one Civil and one in a Church - we started  at the Mairie in Melleran for the Parrainage Civil de Maxance. It was formal but relaxed,  very similar toCivil marriage. I enjoyed being part of the event and capturing some Memories.

and then to the Church - I really have no idea what I am saying here!

At the end of the Baptism the children had the chance to ring the bells - Brilliant!

After spending a lovely couple of hours with this delightful family (I can't say working it's just not they are so easy to take photos of and make my "work" so fun!)
We then went off to Luché sur Brioux to "The Market" where Naomi had been manning the stand for me! She did good and it was really nice to see my friends and greet familiar faces after a long winter away from it!

Gnomes supplied by the lovely Sue Hackney and painted by Evie

Birthday present getting it's Saturday night cook up!

Sunday dawned beautifully bright, sunny and warm so we set off on a very pleasant 22kms bike ride - I would recommend anyone wanting to keep a good record of rides to use Mapmyride.com it's really very good and you just need an android operating system to track your ride. We did this longer ride in a very good time this week and our recovery rate after the hills was very quick! Love progress :)

No rest for the wicked - pool cleaned out and moved!

After weeding, cleaning, harvesting more fruit it was finally dinnertime! BBQ again then!

Ollie Cat snoozing in the evening and yes they are more Mole Mountains!

And that's it - June - done! An interesting month - busy, wet, humid, cold, hot, sunny, cloudy! Lots of work and lots of good times!

Wonder what July will bring - A few events have been booked already!

6th July Marché Franco Aigre Market 9am - 12h30 approx and weather permitting! With Mays 'n' Grace singing.....

7th July ACCENTS Fun day - Auberge de Blanzay 11.30am -17h00

12 Juillet 2013 Foire d’Été! À la Salle des Fêtes (à côte de l’école) 16420 LESTERPS de 10h30 à 15h00 sans interruption. En faveur de l’École Chiens Guides d'Aveugles Centre-Ouest /In support of the School for Guide Dogs for the Blind

21st July British Weekend in La Mothe st.Héray - 79

27th July Royal British Legion Summer Fête Linazay 10h00-17h00

29th July Horse and Dog Fun Show Centre de Beauregard, Beauregard 86250 Asnois
for more info re this event
http://www.centredebeauregard.com/

Have a great Weekend - now we are in July I should really start on my next blog!

PamelaJayne

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