Brilliant summer

[glallotments]

So is the photo natural Geoff or has it been enhanced? I always wonder about sunset photos and have never had anyone to ask before.

If it's natural what camera have you? What settings do you use etc.

[Geoff]

It's for real colourwise but used the "levels" function on photoshop to brighten it a bit - I had another one where the brightness was OK but the focus was a bit fuzzy for some reason so I modified this one. And another glorious day today to follow it.

[Clive.]

....Meanwhile, our sky here on the drier side of England was depositing 32mm rain on us....and had given us 7mm on both Tues and Weds evening.

I saw a floatplane, G-WATR, fly by on Wednesday lunchtime ....perhaps he had heard the forecast


Clive.

[glallotments]

Thanks Geoff

I wish I knew enough to mess about with manual settings.

[glallotments]

had two lovely days - has summer arrived?

[Clive.]

had two lovely days -

Likewise,...but it was a bit damp on Friday morning...
I started with cutting tops off maincrop Potatoes that had blight starting...managed to get stung by a small Bumble Bee who had evidently had to put down for the night in the tops due to inclement flying conditions.
Next job was roughcut mowing in the orchard and then behind the boundary hedge...mowed over a wasp nest and got stung again..!!

It was too wet under foot and for clambering about in the main borders which need some dead heading...so went with some lawn mowing for the rest of the day...

Fine and still today...Beech hedge trimming day at home here...

Need some similar good weather for tomorrow...it's NGS open day at work..

Clive.

[glallotments]

I cut back our blighted tops too. How come the volunteer potatoes growing in our weed pile doesn't get blight?

[Monika]

Gorgeous day today (as were the last three) and lots of butterflies on the buddleias, particularly painted ladies, but also red admirals, peacocks, one meadow brown, comma and just one small tortoiseshell. The latter would have been the dominant species a few years ago but their numbers really have crashed around here.

Harvested a large bag of French bean, both dwarf (The Prince) and climbing (Cobra), also a few climbing beans Blauhilde. Don't thy look off-puttingly black when you first pick them? After cooking, they are just a bit darker than the others, though.

[oldherbaceous]

Morning all, not sure what i have done wrong but, there is a big black cloud right over the top of me but sunshine all around.
I have wound the Church clock so it can't be that.

Hope you get a good day for the NGS open day Clive.

[glallotments]

We had lots of butterflies yesterday too Monika Our dominant species other than the whites are peacock and gatekeepers but we have small tortoiseshell, comma and painted lady. Just one speckled wood on the raspberries and no red admirals so far.
The butterfly conservation are asking for sightings of Painted Ladies to be logged http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/s ... watch.html

Recently we seem to be having plenty of close encounters with the insect world. In the week we had to rescue a huge dragonfly that had ended up - somehow stuck under the net that we had covering a cherry bush.



Another day this week I came in from the garden to find this crawling up my neck.



I think it is a hawthorn shield bug. All three creatures were unharmed by their experiences!

[Elaine]

Hi glallotments. Thanks for that link. I have registered my sightings of Painted Lady Butterflies.
Cheers

[alan refail]

Morning all, not sure what i have done wrong but, there is a big black cloud right over the top of me but sunshine all around.
I have wound the Church clock so it can't be that.

Hope you get a good day for the NGS open day Clive.

Dear OH

I hope the has lifted

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Alan, indeed the black cloud has lifted.

And may i just say, i think you skill as an artist is second to none.

[Clive.]

We did have the appearance of an errant black cloud about 1pm...but it only let loose 3 spots of rain....before and after saw much Summer sunshine. ..and certainly helped draw in a very good number of folk to the open day in support of NGS...

Clive.