Sharnfold Farm Eastbourne East Sussex

Link to farm here

Lovely place for a nice day out with the granddaughter, has a nice shop, a huge selection of PYO in fruit and veg, a cafe, tractor rides, woodland walks a fishing lake, a children`s play area and a a host of other entertainment for the kids in the school holidays

Part of the large shop with butchery at the rear

Hi Billy...what a face

No need to ask where they are heading

The fishing lake

Small heath butterfly

A lovely old cart not sure about the seat 

Nanny helping the girls find the Moshi Monster

A well balanced meal

Female oak eggar moth

Not a moth I have seen before it was flying against the bathroom window one night (although it is in fact a daytime moth) it was still there the next morning when we photographed her she then flew off. She was very obliging to sit on my wife`s hand while I took some pictures.

Poppies in the allotment wild garden

Those of you who have visited this blog before will know that my allotment plot is unusual in that it lies in a secluded wooded area in a valley with a very large tree canopy. This means the available sunlight is limited to about four hours a day and plants are always struggling for enough light. Weeds however have grown enormously this year some like cow parsley are 6 feet tall.
Plants like peas and runner beans do very well as they grow very tall anyway others plants do not fair as well.
This year I left one small corner of the plot to grow as it liked and sprinkled lots of seeds to see what came up these Calendula add a real splash of colour and the poppies are self seeding every where.

Lawn weeds

I cut the grass today this warm dry spell has meant the lawn hasn`t grown much but the weeds sure have buttercups and daisies and the three I have macro photographed here,  red and white clover and selfheal. They do look wonderful with the camera lens close up

Self heal (prunella)

Red clover

White clover

How to revive a bumble bee

Judi and I like to think we have a wildlife friendly garden but this year we have seen a shortage of bumble bees which is worrying.
We spotted this one on our kitchen window blind quite motionless and appearing to be dead after not moving for some considerable time.
Judi (my wife) put some honey and water on a teaspoon and gently lifted the bee on to it before taking it outside and placing it on our garden bench, clearly the sweet smell was to much to resist and the bee started drinking after a while he finished and flew off.
We were both fascinated watching this as we have only ever seen a bee using it`s proboscis to collect pollen and nectar on flowers.

Macro and close up photography

Yes I am still here but have been tied up for several months with this Diabetes illness which is now under control with tablets. I will be posting some veg plot photos soon in the meantime I have been taking some spring flower pictures which I always enjoy at this time of the year there are 21 in total. All photos taken in my own garden. They do look better enlarged.

Some recent shots taken with a Fuji S3 pro and Nikon Micro Nikkor 60mm 2.8D

Bumble bee with pollen sacs on erigeron

Caterpillar of the Comma butterfly

As above

Comma butterfly

Bearded iris

Tea rose with raindrops

Iris

Queen Elizabeth rose

Viola in the rain

Poached egg plant (limnanthes)

Hardy geranium

pink erigeron

giant poppy

Cheeky blackbird looking through our patio window pecking the glass until we come out with raisins cheese or grapes he was doing this several times a day for a week or so while he had young in the nest. Below is one of his fledglings.

Iris

 Dragonfly

Pair of lawn daisies

 Dandelion seeds

Apple blossom

and finally...........ornamental quaking grass
Phew my thanks if you made it to the bottom

Photos for publication and painting

I have been sending some of my recent photographs to our local newspaper the Eastbourne Herald for publication under the heading "Photo of the Week".
They have published several which have been used by a number of readers who are in my wife`s art group on Mondays and Wednesdays, the group called "Pleasure Painters" are producing some lovely oil and water colour paintings which are then sold at local tourist spots in Eastbourne.
Here are a few recent photographs.

Butts Brow late afternoon in winter

Red Arrows Airborne week Eastbourne

Daisies Western Lawns

Low tide at Holywell

Spring in the garden and pea shoots indoors

A selection of flower shots from my garden now that the flowers have finally woken up

My annual daisy shot before the lawn has it`s first proper cut

Grape hyacinth close up

Indoor daffodils

Pea shoots I grow for cut and come again in salads