A Drop or Two of Rain

It's a good thing yesterday's short sharp shower



only lasted a few minutes as it was falling at the rate of nearly two inches an hour.

In the evening the crescent Moon was visible between the dark clouds:



At the same time visible to the naked eye but more difficult to photograph was Venus:



You may have to click on the picture to see a larger version.
Venus is the small white dot half way down on the right hand side.

Winemaking Anyone?

Local elderflower is in full bloom:



Looks very pretty in the hedgerow but a real pain in my garden. There used to be masses of it in next door's garden. That has been dug out but the hundreds of berries which kept falling my side of the fence are growing with a vengeance.

I'll Just ....

.... rest my paw on this biscuit while I have a nap:



to make sure no one can steal it without me knowing.

In the Rockery

While I was having a weeding session in the overgrown rockery I spotted some of the wildlife sheltering there. First a large frog leapt out. Next was a daytime flying moth. Unfortunately it wouldn't settle long enough to photo or identify as it fed from the flowers on the rockery pinks. Even while it was in one place feeding its wings never stopped moving which made it difficult to make out any markings.

The find I most liked was:



A young toad.

A closer crop from the above photo:


I sometimes see fully grown adults but this is only the second time I have seen a young one.

Wordless Wednesday

Unidentified Rose seen in a local front garden

Monday Montage

Here we are. Monday again. Funny how some days seem endless but weeks and months seem to fly by.
Anyway here is a reminder of last week's WidsMob Montage modified photo:



Which Adrian, Ragged Robin and Wilma had no difficulty in identifying as:



my polka dot kettle.

This week's montage for you to identify:



If you would like to make a guess please leave it in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the original photo, next Monday.

Catching Flies

Catching pesky annoying flies in the home can be done several ways.

Artificial man made catcher.
This is the one I use. No chemicals.
Just a nice attractive, to flies, yellow colour and a very sticky surface.
I have just replaced last year's one as it was well and truly covered with dead flies:



In the past I have tried the yellow sticky sheet type catchers.
Two problems.
Trying to get the paper cover off them without sticking to the darn thing.
Worse, ending up with a sore throat from the chemical used to attract insects.
All you have to do with the Zero In is hold the plastic hook and slide it out of the box as the plastic shapes at each end prevent it from catching on the cardboard.

The natural way with plants which catch flies.
I have had a Venus Fly trap and Pitcher plant in past years but lost them to cold winters.
Now I have got round to replacing them with the addition, for the first time, of a Sundew:



It will be interesting to see which of these works best in the conservatory.

Also tried in the past.
A UV zapper. The type you sometimes see in food shops.
The light attracts insects and a high voltage zaps them.
The almighty crack when one was zapped used to make me jump.
It didn't attract many flies.
It cost money having it plugged in to the electric supply all the time.

A hand held electric zapper. The tennis racket shaped thingy.
I'm too slow to swat the flies. Again the crack when one is zapped made me jump.
Having it handy, with a working battery was a clat.

Much better to have something you can hang up and forget about as it gets on with its designed task.
Just keep it well away from curtains which might blow on to it or heads which may brush against it.