Sunshine Showers and Honey Bees

There I was taking pictures of a new rose in the garden when I noticed some really ominous dark rain clouds, scampered indoors before the heavens opened with a torrential downpour. As is often the case in a typical English summer it was followed by sunny spells and more showers, in between the showers I managed to get some pictures of several honey bees on the lavender bush.
Our local primary school Here have just installed some black bees hives on the marsh and I have attached a photo of this excellent project for you to read (probably needs to be enlarged to make reading easier) the children suitably clothed will monitor the bees.

Spider has made the rose his home

Pink after a heavy shower

An inverted reflection of the garden bench

A tiny piece of something in the raindrop, I think it looks like a man carrying something on his left shoulder while pulling a tray of cabbages, what do you think?

Honey bee taken with fill flash compare with the one below that wasn`t

West Rise black bee project

Pink fir apple great taste but weird looking potatoes

Harvest Thursday

Pink Fir Apple

We will probably give some of these to the local old folk we have a glut and we don`t like them when frozen

Nice size beetroot lovely when eaten hot

There's a bright golden haze in the meadow

The corn is as high as an elephant's eye

And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky

Well mine is it stands about 8` 6" and at last it has tassles on the cobs I was getting worried

Holywell beach at low tide

This week has seen some fine sunny weather in Eastbourne along with most of the country and we have visited the beach chalet on a daily basis. The severe winter storms this year did some serious damage to the beach mainly by depositing rocks of all shapes and sizes on four of the main bays for bathing. It didn't seem to bother the children today so I ventured down with my little camera to grab a few shots at low tide.

It seems scarcely believable for the amount that the council charge annually for rent that so few of the chalets have been occupied in view of the splendid weather so far this summer.

Nasty rocks to negotiate

Holywell beach chalets 1 to 69 in this view there are only 7 being used

Low tide looking towards Beachy Head the beach in the photo above this one used to be as sandy

The winter storms affected the geography of the beach this area was a favourite of mine for rock pooling last year

A remnant from when the fishing boats use to tie up here in the 19th century

Concrete and angle iron hazard washed up from who knows where

Filling both Sussex trugs a plot update

After a hot stormy and muggy few days we visited the plot after a weeks absence to harvest whatever crops were ready.

We were so pleased to pick our first sweet peas a mixed variety from a £0.25P packet the scent is heavenly our absolute favourite from any flower.

Runner and french beans are now prolific and we harvested the last of the Charlotte potatoes to give our daughter a nice bag to take home.

Beetroots are ready and we picked a few to boil and skin in our usual manner and eat hot.

We only have outdoor tomatoes but they are beginning to ripen and there are plenty of them on three plants which are sited in the middle of the plot and look remarkedly healthy. (famous last words)

Peas never seem to find there way into the pot quite a few get eaten when picking, the rest take there chances depending who is doing the shelling in this case there were four of us so we decided to finish eating them raw and `save on the gas bill`

Perpetual spinach is ready and we are picking regularly

Sweetcorn will be the last to harvest probably in September

Spencer mixed sweet peas

My first ever  not quite ready outdoor tomato from the plot was always told you need a greenhouse

Bolthardy beetroot

Runner bean Enorma

French beans

Perpetual spinach

Charlotte 2nd early

There`s one missing

Eat now or cook?

spinach with a knob of butter

Beetroot cooking

                                                         Help tying in the sweet corn

The horse that went for a paddle and came for an apple

Holywell beach today, a first visit that I can remember and one that caused a certain excitement with us all, while we were at the beach chalet a horse and rider came off the downs at Beachy Head after a long trot to cool off in the sea. My granddaughter generously offered one of our Pink Lady apples which the horse enjoyed immensely. A brief chat with the rider discovered that both had been together for 14 years since the horse was 3.

Photos have been heavily Photoshopped to remove adults and children from them

The inexorable advance of compact digital cameras

The photo attached to this post would have been impossible for me to capture with a compact camera in the early days of digital photography. Advancing sensor, lens and image stabilising technology means the camera can be hand held at a low shutter speed 1/10th sec. combined with a fast f1.8 lens and a ISO of 3200 without exhibiting a noisy/grainy picture. Not having a long zoom (it`sx4) may be considered a minus but then any longer would necessitate a slower lens

A strange looking half light sky at 22.30hrs Eastbourne Sony DSC-RX100m2 1/10th sec hand held f1.8 ISO3200

  

The mystery of the lost pruning knife

I am forever mislaying gardening tools on the allotment plot. I start out on one job and then get distracted and start on another especially on a day like today.  I was pottering  and stopped to have a natter with Wendy and her daughter Robyn who have taken on a small plot next to mine. Now I could have sworn I had a pruning knife in my hand at the time,cutting some twine  but it has been mislaid,I looked all over the plot even enlisting the help of a seven spot ladybird atop the sweet corn.It will probably come to light in the Autumn.Unless of course I have a eureka moment.

It wasn`t here

Or here

Isn`t that it down there?

No just a twig

The first runner beans

A first pick today of runner beans, variety Enorma and Armstrong, french beans and perpetual spinach. Not a huge amount this early in July but enough for one meal.

Dwarf sunflower Miss Sunshine

Bee Friendly or Lawn Lounger

In this case clover, the lawn is covered in it I should apply weedkiller I know but the honey bees love it so I put up with it for a week or so and then run the mower over it. After we comment how lovely it now looks we  sit and admire it until the clover grows again, and we start over.

Our local farm sells clover honey which we buy, could it be some of our clover? be nice to think so.

Bee friendly clover

The Lawn Lounger

Honey bee in clover