Water Lily

Recently the weather has been typically British - never knowing what it will be like in an hour's time. Anything from brilliant Sunshine to tropical downpours.

One of my water lilies snapped during a short sunny period:



From time to time I am trying to thin out some of the other aquatic plants which have got out of control.

A Lovely Surprise Encounter

Woke up early so it was just 6 a.m. as we went out for our first walk of the day. Just got to the front gate when you could have knocked me down with a feather. There, cautiously coming through the hedge opposite, was a Muntjac Deer. Fortunately I had the Nikon in my pocket so I was able to grab a couple of hurried photos before it disappeared:



In fact there wasn't just the one but two which had been taking advantage of the vegetation in the large, well kept gardens opposite:



I was surprised just how small they were. Apart from their bulky shape they looked to be much the same size as Penny who was very patiently watching them through the front gate.

That really made my day as my next door neighbour has seen one in his back garden at least twice this year. My garden is well fenced in with high gates so I had given up any idea of seeing one myself.

Our Unelected Masters

Unelected - to rule until 31st October 2019 - the EU Commission.
1 Presedent, 1 First Vice-President, 5 Vice Presidents, 20 Commissioners



This group were not elected, and cannot be removed, by the population of the EU.
They meet behind closed doors and not accountable to anyone.
What they decide becomes law, overruling anything our MPs decide.
They decide the laws to be put before the MEPs.

My reason for voting Leave is so we in the UK can escape the clutches of this thoroughly undemocratic elite.

 

I really do hope that 23rd July will become celebrated as UK Independence Day.

A Blue Day

I have always assumed that I was seeing Common Blue Damselflies around the garden pond but on close examination of the markings on one of the two seen today it turned out to be a male Azure Damselfly:



Most noticeable for identification of the Azure is the thin U shaped black marking on a segment behind its wings:



One excellent source for identification is the Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies of Britain published by FSC Publications. A well illustrated laminated 12 page fold out guide which can be purchased from around £2.

I will have to check more carefully during the rest of the year as, hopefully, a few more appear.

Birdy Bistro Nursery

Recently there have been many parent birds bringing their fledglings to the Birdy Bistro. I have seen families of Blackbirds, Starlings, House Sparrows, Dunnocks and most recently Blue Tits:

First Damsel of the Season

The first of the Blue Tailed Damselflies to emerge from the garden pond:

A Bit About EU History

Piffle has some thought provoking videos about the EU

It's the  part about a federal Europe with all laws being made by an unelected Commission which drives me to vote to leave this monstrosity This smacks of a return to medieval times when the barons owned everything and held the power of life and death over the serfs. This time it's the rich and the power hungry who are determined to seize absolute control over the general population.