Bee Rescue, Stunning Sky and June Flora.

I noticed last night that a little bee had got itself trapped in the house. It was dark before I saw it, too late to release it, so this morning I attempted a rescue. I soaked a tissue in sugar solution and placed it alongside the motionless bee on the windowsill. A few seconds later, one front leg was lifted high in the air - it had sensed the sweetness. It took a few minutes for it to climb on to the tissue and start sucking up the sugar solution but it stayed for a further hour before turning in circles and finally flying away. Phew!

 There have been some beautiful sunsets this last week.

 This, believe it or not, is my PATIO!  My sitting-out area. 

I returned from my week away to find that the daisies had filled it with their blooms. 

 When I lined up this shot, there was a huge bumble bee going from one enticing flower to another - but I was too slow.  He'd gone!

The first of the Peonies to flower.

 A leafy lane leading to Pentiddy Woods near my village.

I love this painting by Yvonne Coomber, a Devon artist - and it reminded me of the beautiful wildflower meadows bordering the path to Porth Joke beach. This is the time of year to see them at their best.

Poppies and Corn Marigolds

 A field of Corn Marigolds

Corn Marigolds, Poppies and Tufted Vetch

Aren't they glorious?  Well worth the drive down to see them. 

An eventful doggy walk.

My friends, Barry and Linda and I meet up every week to walk our dogs and have lunch out somewhere.  On Thursday we decided to go to Respryn and walk in the grounds of Lanhydrock where the shade of the trees would be a reprieve from the hot sun; my dog Zac, and their Red Setter, Rua, were not comfortable when it was hot weather. Goldie, their other dog couldn't care less about the heat!

I got there a little early in order to take some photos; this is Respryn Bridge which dates from the 13th century.

The bridge spans the River Fowey (pronounced Foy) which at this time of year is running very low - note the exposed  river bed on the right. 

When I turned to photograph the opposite side of the bridge, I was surprised to see a heron, totally engrossed in looking into the water for his next meal. Apologies for the fuzzy photo; I zoomed in on him but didn't focus properly in my haste, expecting him to fly off at any minute.

 Slightly better, but at least you can see the heron quite clearly.

 I wonder if he'd read this sign!

 Another surprising thing to find, on the handrail of a footbridge, was this dragonfly which had just emerged from its nymph stage and I was able to snatch a photograph while it waited for its wings to dry off, enabling it to fly away.

There were lots of rhododendrons in flower; this one was at the entrance to the car park.

We began our walk along Station Drive, the ornamental carriageway created by the Robartes family, linking the nearby railway station to Lanhydrock House. 

 But soon we turned off the carriageway to enter the woods that border the River Fowey; there are Kingfishers and Otters in there, but with 3 dogs in attendance, we really didn't expect to see them!

But then, as we headed back towards the car park, it happened - as Zac was ambling across a plank bridge which spanned a deep ditch, Rua came running up from behind, leaped across the bridge accidentally knocking Zac sideways and down into the ditch. I think we all screamed!  Zac is an old dog and he has arthritis and weakness in his hindquarters; we all rushed to look down into the ditch to see him sitting, looking quite dazed at the bottom of the ditch. 

My friend Barry, the only one of us without knee problems, climbed down into the ditch and helped Zac to his feet.  After making sure he wasn't injured, he managed to lift him high enough for myself and Linda to pull him up out of the ditch.

Zac found comfort in the coolness of the river . . .

On the final stretch to the car park, he was slow and a bit wobbly but managed to get back without any further mishap.

 I'm very pleased to say that after his dinner and a good night's sound sleep, he suffered no ill effects from the incident. 

Phew!!! 

I didn't walk him on Friday, but today (Saturday) we went up on Bodmin Moor and enjoyed an hour's ramble up there, before coming home for dinner and lots more sleep! 

I'm back!

Back from a camping trip to the beautiful Roseland Peninsula, that is. And this is my second attempt at bringing my blog up to date; last night I sorted lots of photos, put some on my blog and wrote about my 'doings'.  But after publishing the post, I realised I hadn't given it a heading, so I clicked on 'Edit'  . . . . well, I thought I had, but I managed to delete the whole thing!
If at first, you don't succeed - try, try, try again!
I was invited to be a witness at my niece's wedding in Truro, so rather than battle with Bank Holiday traffic on the morning of the wedding, I decided to get the tent out and organise a week's camping a bit closer to the wedding venue.
So I was just up the road from Veryan - these are two of the famous Roundhouses which were built at the entrances to the village in the early 19th century to prevent the devil from entering the village; they were built that shape so that the devil couldn't hide in corners and the cross on top was an extra precaution.  These days, some of the Roundhouses are available as holiday lets.

 At this time of year, our Cornish lanes are particularly beautiful.

 I wanted to visit Hemmick beach after reading about it in another blog, but it was a scary drive down the very narrow, steep and twisting lane that led to the beach; foliage was lashing the car on both sides and I was very glad that there was nothing coming the other way - I couldn't have passed even a cyclist! And when I reached the entrance to the beach, it was to find that there was only sufficient space for 3 vehicles; luckily someone was about to leave, so Zac and I were able to enjoy a short time on the unspoilt and quiet beach.

 Thrift growing on top of an isolated, tall rock on the beach.

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 Porthcurnick beach with Portscatho across the bay and the famous Hidden Hut on the cliff above the beach, where I had a very tasty lunch.

The Hidden Hut was doing good business that day - and the aromas from the cooking area were most enticing!

After lunch, I drove round to Portscatho and was lucky to nab a parking space in the village square when someone obligingly left, so I indulged my passion for wandering round the art galleries - and bought a pretty little jug to add to my collection, as a souvenir of my holiday.

After a week away, my garden had undergone a transformation - everything was blooming - but that's another post.  I was lucky that the unexpected hot spell didn't kill all my little potted plants which I had taken out of the greenhouse and put on the large patio table; thank goodness my son came round in my absence and watered them all.