Garden Tigers

GB's garden had a fair supply of Garden Tiger caterpillars in it today - taking advantage of the sunshine to nibble their way through some foxgloves and dock leaves. One disadvantage of being very hairy is that the wind can catch you:-

 

The Price to Pay

After yesterdays rainbows I checked my lottery tickets. Must have been someone else's pot of gold this time! But perhaps just seeing so many rainbows is a pot of gold in itself.


There is a price to be paid for living almost anywhere. Many people who see the marvellous view from GB's kitchen and study windows would sell their souls for a view like that. And the island life seems idyllic in many ways. Comparatively little traffic in Stornoway and virtually none on the roads outside. Beaches that are mile after mile of sand and surf with not a soul in sight. Summer days that are long and light. But there is a price.

Heather mentioned No-see-ums the other day. Well, the Hebrides have their equivalent - the dreaded midge. Clouds of these biting insects can drive even the hardiest of natives indoors when they attack. Then, whilst the summer days are long the winter ones are short and dark. But it is the wind that might get me down if I lived here. Calm days are a rarity and whilst the average wind speed for much of the time may be unspectacular it is nevertheless enough for someone like me to find it off-putting. And the wind, especially with its salt content, makes gardening a real art.


GB has learned that art over the years and has an attractive pond with a lovely waterfall, surrounded by low-growing rockery plants that can cope with the weather. This is Phlox 'Emerald Cushion Blue'

And Potentilla neumanniana 'Nana'. (Try saying that after a few glasses of wine!)



And, of course, that mainstay of rockeries, the Mossy Saxifrages.

P.S. Incidentally, if you receive an e-mail telling you not to eat tinned pork because of the dangers of swine flu, ignore it. It's just spam.

 

Dunblane Cathedral

On the way up to the Isle of Lewis we stopped for a walk around Dunblane and its cathedral. Here is a black and white photo essay. Most of the pictures are self-explanator but I must mention that this first one is a 10th or 11th century Christian cross. It's amazing to think that a cross made of sandstone has been around for a millennium and is still in such good condition.















 

Of sunsets, sunrises and shirts

It is worth coming to the Outer Hebrides just to see the sunsets and sunrises. In summer you have to stay up late to catch the former and be up very early to see the latter.


On Monday night the sun dropped below the skyline of Lower Bayble just as I ws on my way to bed but I had a lie in until 6.00 am on Tuseday so the sun was already well up over Bayble Bay. By 6.15 a.m. GB was on his knees in his dressing gown pulling blanket weed out of the pond. I've spared you (and him) a photo. But then he might have retaliated as I was wandering around in a weird assortment of clothing.

I commented, half jokingly, on my Hebridean blog the other day about a friend wearing a corporate green shirt instead of his usual white ones. Needless to say he looked very neat and smart but there is a certain something about the wearing of a crisp white shirt that makes a man stand out. When I worked I wore a shirt and tie all the time and on special occasions I would wear a white shirt but for most of the time I wore a lightly patterned or slightly coloured one. I don't think I realised at the time the difference that a white shirt can make. Nowadays I hardly ever wear a formal shirt - favouring instead the casual polo shirt or occasionally a T-shirt. Suits have been replaced by casual trousers and jumpers or cardigans. For a slightly warmer outdoor wear I can usually be seen in tracksuit tops. It occurs to me that a change back to shirts and ties may not be a bad thing. Whether I shall do it or not remains to be seen.


The showery day led to a couple of rainbows in the afternoon. This first one was a broad band well out to sea, towards the mainland.



The second rainbow was a complete one across Broad Bay with part of it a double rainbow. It was very impressive.


By the time the third rainbow appeared I was getting a bit blase about them. But the fourth one seemed to end in the garden before gradually moving out to sea.


I've never seen so many rainbows in one afternoon before. With all those pots of gold around perhaps I should check my lottery ticket.
 

Wisteria

Having done a blog posting about Wisteria recently I discovered when we went to Bicton Park near Exeter that it has probably the oldest Wisteria in Britain.


It really is a magnificent specimen.