We are back...

And what a difference a fortnight makes, how things have blossomed...

The lawn has grown a good crop of dandelions...

Only got back at 15:30 hrs and Elizabeth is cracking the whip! I will get the better of them!!!

The sweet cherry (front) and the sour cherry(back) are full of blossom...

The strawberry plants are starting to flower... yum yum...

The Pear trees are starting to blossom...

My much loved Gooseberry bush (I bought it as a 'stick' for 50 cents from Lidl) is full of Blossom...

BUT the Potager has not a thing planted

All this work to do and Elizabeth has gone to Gymnastics... It's alright for some!

It's good to be back though and it was 10 degrees warmer here than in Lancashire...

What's happened to my rose?

Elizabeth photographed this Green Bush Cricket sitting on one of our roses on the 2nd November 2013.

It is still there today in the exact same place...
The rose has gone but the Cricket is hanging on in there!

Is it feeding off something? Or perhaps it just likes the view.

Any ideas!

Harvesting the Butternut Squash

Regular readers will perhaps remember me mentioning our Butternut Squash back at the beginning of August (See Here)

WELL!! Yesterday it was time to harvest them! Sorry, it.

It was so large and perfectly formed Elizabeth had to refrain from lifting it in case she damaged her back...

Don't all laugh at once... They just did not grow!

Anybody got a recipe for Butternut Squash soup!!

Footnote.
Will try again next year given that Pauline at 'De la  Bonne Bouffe' has given away the secret of success. Thanks Tim and Pauline.

Broad Bordered Bee Hawkmoth (Hemaris fuciformis)

Well that is our best identification thanks to Collins guide and an internet search. What is certain is it is the first time I have managed to photograph one as they can only be described as aerial acrobats... They don't half move fast, flitting from flower to flower.

and with such accuracy as these two consecutive pictures show

proboscis right in the middle

Interestingly when we did the ID internet search it showed photographs of the caterpillar, which looked remarkably like this one photographed on our patio back in July. Their preferred plant is wild honeysuckle which we have on a trellis adjacent to where this was found.

It was great to see and photograph and we will be looking out for future visits.