Monday 15 June 2009

The longest day

The Longest day of the year is coming up very soon. I keep being amazed at how long the daylight hangs around now. The picture that I took last night at about 10:30 pm illustrates what beautiful things the evenings now are.

A bonus of the light evenings is that one can go outside when the day is cooler. The heat of the day is gone, but some of it remains stored in the paving stones of our patio. you stand on the warm stones, even though it is almost midnight you stand on the warm stones and look up at the numerous stars and the constellations that you were taught the names of when you were a kid. Summer might have its bonuses after all. For all my moaning, it is a beautiful time of the year and one should not discourage mother nature from having a fun time.

At this time of the year, The sun only just dips behind our horizon at night I think as there is always a corner of the sky that is paler than the rest and you can always see the silhouettes of the trees.


~ my desktop says we shall have "t-storms"... I hear distant booms, the breeze is appearing, the sky is dimming..... im keeping my fingers crossed. ~

Thursday 11 June 2009

Storms on the horizon

~our rope swing which hangs about 25 feet from the tree~
~Foxgloves~
Our Back garden is beautiful tonight. The sun, bright between storm clouds is shining through the leaves of our Ash tree creating a brilliant green glow, Perfect conditions for a spot of photography. We have the most amazing Foxgloves in our garden! Ever since I was a child Mom would grow millions of them and one of the first things I remember from when I was little was her telling me that I was NOT to touch them because they were poisonous. That (as you can imagine) scared me quite a bit so I never ever touched them (and I still dont!). There are just some things you never forget.

Today has been very warm. Not my favourite of weather types as you propably know but the one good thing? It has spawned SO MANY stormclouds! Everywhere you look tonight in every corner of the sky are clouds blossoming high in an attempt to "hit the roof" as it were. I am keeping my fingers crossed for some storms tonight as so far this year I have been unlucky.

I leave you with a stormcloud and a happy wish for a good FRIDAY tomorrow!!!

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Field gates

Sometimes I find that the simplest things can be photogenic.
Today I was having trouble with my camera. Nothing looked good in its viewfinder. Eventually I gave up and went home but on my way back, I stopped at a field gate to watch a bunny grazing on some grass. I leaned upon the fence and sudenly realised that I was very close to a perfect picture!
Ivy is probably my favourite plant. (creepers in general really). The new shoots that curl their way through anything are so delicate but can force their way through most things. Our garden fence has rotted away completely now but since it is covered and interwoven with this tenacious weed, the fence has stayed upright for years after it should have fallen over!
As I eyed this young tendril of Ivy, I realised that to get to it, I would have to wade through a bank of stinging nettles. I considered this problem and then decided "what the hell." I therefore made my way into the deadly stinging nettles and obtained a photograph! the one thing that had been eluding me all afternoon!
Photograph obtained, I went home feeling much more satisfied with my afternoon!
(p.s. I didn't get stung once!)

Monday 8 June 2009

First storm photos of the year!

I am thrilled today because we FINALLY got a storm!!!! not a proper one, Not much lightning and only distant rumbles of thunder but we got some spectacular clouds. I therefore grabbed Mr. Camera and RAN into the sheets of rain to get some pictures.
I ADORE thunderstorms and I was complaining just today that we hadnt had a good thunderstorm yet this year. Admittedly we still havent.... there was a definite LACK of significant electrical activity, but I got the excitement of watching the stormclouds roll over and curl in their own unpredictable patterns.
As I stood outside and got slowly drenched in the rain the thought occurred that the daylight was diminishing. I love when this happens. A faint tinge of brown/green came over the clouds and the birds who had been singing quite heartily in the trees suddenly grew very still. this darkness lasted untill the clouds had passed over and the rain had eased. The birds then continued in their evening songs and I decided that the chance of lightning and thunder has vanished. I therefore went back indoors to finish my supper... only to see a flash and hear from outide a boom of thunder.
Missed opportunities!!! Life is like that though I guess.

Saturday 6 June 2009

British Summer

Everyone seems to be cold today! Jumpers are being worn instead of T-shirts and when taking Monty for an evening walk with Steph today I was bombarded with the
"How are you not COLD!"
question from her. I was fine however. No cold can reach me!!! (theorhetically).
One of the wonderful things about Britain is its summers. Garunteed rain and chilly weather for a good period of time, Britain can be sometimes the best place to keep cool.
One worry is that with a roof now installed above the Wimbledon centre tennis court in time for this years competition, the rain might decide there is no point in falling!
For years, the wimbledon weekend has been hilarious because of so much rain, thus making tennis impossible. I hope it still rains. It will not be Wimbledon without rain.
I hope that wherever you are, whether you have sunshine, rain, heat or cold, you have a brilliant weekend.

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Pounding the streets

I have a great sense of accomplishment today. I have spent a day walking round with my sister Steph, collecting for her trip in August to climb mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. All the money goes to a charity called Childreach International which works in many countries (including Tanzania and Ghana) working to improve the lives of children. Building schools, working on sanitation projects and helping them finish school and get jobs afterwards.
I was thrilled at how many kind people were willing to spare a little change to our cause. Every little penny counts and after roughly 3 hours, we had managed to raise £40.45 (and since Mom said she would match the overall amount at the end of the day today, we now have roughly £80 for our days work! -a big thank you to Mom for the extra pennies-)
This will be the trip of a lifetime for steph and she is now half way towards reaching her target of £2,200.00.
On the off chance that someone will want to help sponser Steph, I am putting a link to her "justgiving" fundraiser page.
Tomorrow we do the whole process of collecting again, but this time in a slightly different location. I now know which clothes are suitable for walking around in for ages (e.g. not the ones I wore today) and what not to do (e.g. forget to take off your scary make up so you dont frighten poor elderly ladies).
I am hoping we can do just as well with our collections tomorrow. It is very rewarding seeing people giving so generously, so even though today was a tiring day, It was a good one.
please wish us luck for tomorrow!