Fish in a Jumper

This morning was lovely and sunny, too nice to be indoors, so my sister and I took a short walk with our cameras.

We walked as far as the river, which isn't very far at all, and admired the views from the bridge.

My sister spotted a dipper. I took this photo on full zoom, which isn't enough to show the bird up well. My sister's camera captured it better with it's bigger zoom. It was lovely to watch the bird diving into the water and swimming around.

Then I spotted this fish beneath us on the bridge. It was just keeping it's place in the river with very little effort against the current. It looked most peculiar, as from our position above, it looked to me as though it was wearing a jumper. It's head and tail were pale while the rest of its body was dark. It was probably a salmon, a big one too.

There's plenty of leaves left on the trees.

There are still flowers to be seen too.

Altogether, a morning to brighten the spirits.

Refreshing

 

 

At last, the weather has broken and it's cooler.

I just hope it lasts a while.

 

I picked these flowers whilst out on our walk yesterday morning.

 

There's a field of these flowers

in amongst the vineyards.

 

 

Marigold.

 

Cornflower.

 

Dill.

 

Not sure about the purple one,

Lavatera?

 

Cut flowers.

Simple pleasures.

 

 

 

 



A Hot Weekend

 

 

 

It seems to be getting hotter.

We've had beautiful weather here on the Mosel for weeks now.

Spring was wet here, unusually,

so it was lovely when summer arrived.

But now,

the heat continues with no let up.

I don't know how people mange to cycle in the middle of the day

when it's so hot.

 

 

 

It's bad enough taking the dogs for a walk in the shade.

In fact Arthur looked as though he didn't want to go for a walk

yesterday afternoon.

So I walked back to the van with him and Paddy,

while Mike continued with Jess, Indie and Danny.

Paddy's watching them go here.

 

They got a frozen fish finger each when they got back home.

 

Paddy's looking for somewhere to eat his.

 

This next photo shows Jess and Paddy on tonight's walk

when it's cooler.

But they still look hot.

 

Paddy and Arthur spend most of the day in the cellar where it's cool.

 

At least the flowers are enjoying the long warm days.

 

I hope you are too.

 

 

 

 

 



September Sun

These treasures are from my walk with the hounds.

I collected far more walnuts

the next day.

These photos have been sitting waiting

for me to post for a couple of days now.

I haven't been spending much time on the computer.

We've had people staying at different times

and the weather has been too hot to sit at the computer.

But I just had to get the camera out

to record the weather

and what the boys have been up to.

As you can see,

they're doing what they do best.

It's not often that Paddy lies on his back outside.

I think the temperature must have been just right for him.

Arthur's enjoying a spot in the sun too.

But Rufus is taking it easy on his favourite seat inside.

I took a walk round the garden

to see what's still blooming.

The sweetpeas are looking just as nice

if not better than they have all summer.

They smell lovely too.

This hollyhock was battered by the hailstones a month back,

but it's still producing large flowers.

I was surprised to see these rose blooms

as they are the first ones I've seen on this plant

which I planted earlier this year.

I think I'm good at growing

marigolds

and nasturtiums.

They grow themselves really.
I love their cheerfullness.

Well, some things don't change

do they?

I'd best stop napping

 and get blogging again.

Wet Garden

Thank you for all your good wishes for Jewel.

We have seen an improvement in her.

She is able to make her own way up and downstairs,

she is eating better,

and generally seems more like herself.

So we are hoping that

she is recovering

and that there is no underlying cause.

Thanks also for your encouraging comments

regarding my orangy red elongated hexagons.

 

These photos were all taken in the garden

on Wednesday, after the rain.

I meant to post them yesterday,

but went off to a wein kirmes last night,

returning too late to write anything sensible.

Or maybe it had something to do with the amount of wine consumed.

Yesterday started off sunny and warm,

hot even.

But by midday,

the sky was very heavy,

bringing with it,

thunder and torrential rain.

It was a shame.

I had planned to go and see

the crowning of the king and queen of the wine in the next village.

But as it was due to take place in the market square,

I thought it would be a rather wet affair.

So wisely,

(as it turned out),

gave it a miss,

(I would have got soaked to the skin!)

In another nearby village,

a group of Harley Davidson bikers

have been visiting.

We could hear them

passing on their bikes all afternoon.

We felt sorry for them,

knowing that they had a run out on their bikes planned for the afternoon,

winding up somewhere for coffee and cake.

But the rain didn't seem to stop them.

We know what it's like to come to the Mosel

on motor bikes and get caught in a thunderstorm.

I remember when we visited here in 2003

(it might have been 2004),

we had to shelter in a shop doorway in Bernkastel.

I got soaked to the skin.

Once the rain stopped,

we got back on our motor bikes

only to stop and shelter under a bridge

not far from here.

Little did we know then that we would be living here now!

My sister bought me this Echinacea

last year.

But marigolds have self seeded themselves about the garden.

A bit like the one and only sunflower.

I think potatoes and tomatoes

belong to the same family.

It's easy to see why in these two photos.

The one above is a potato plant,and the one below,

a tomato.

I'm quite pleased with the tomatoes,

as they are all grown from seed.

I didn't really expect them to germinate,

so now I've got loads.

But I'm no gardener,

and so they have all been fending for themselves

and are therefore smaller than my neighbours plants.

But I'll put it down to a learning experience.

And try and do better next year.

I'm surprised to see this lupin in flower.

I sowed the seeds this spring,

so I didn't expect them to flower this year.

When I checked this morning to see if the plants were all still standing

after the deluge yesterday,

I noticed this lupin flower had turned a delicate pink. 

I hope you are all in the pink this weekend!

Morning Walk



All these photos were taken during this mornings walk.

I thought Mike might appreciate them seeing as he's missing our walks with the hounds.

Even though most of the photos are of flowers.

I took a circular route

near the top of the hill.

The grapes are getting bigger,

and there's lots of them this year.

The hounds caught an interesting scent.

It's certainly thick enough to hide an animal or two in there.

This bird caught my attention.

It's call was a 'click clack' sort of sound.

I tried to get closer but it would fly a bit further away.

I don't know what it was.

I looped the hound's leads over a post to follow it,

but it got away without me getting a decent shot of it.

Turning round,

I thought the hounds looked sweet waiting for me

amongst the flowers.

Here's Rufus.

I tried to upload more photos,

I had some of Paddy.

But Blogger had had enough.

Me too,

I'm off to bed.

The computer is acting up again.