Homing pigeons

I've just finished a book about the code workers at Bletchley Park and am now reading Ben MacIntyre's Double Cross:The true story of the D-Day spies. I had just been reading about the deployment of pigeons and their use in espionage (apparently they had their own section in MI5: The Pigeon Service Special Section BC3). Then yesterday,  I read this in the news . It will be interesting to see if they decode the messages.



WWII carrier pigeon remains found in UK chimney by reuters

All this pigeon stuff got me remembering. My father was a great one for keeping pets and livestock. Among the many animals we had, pigeons had a high profile. We lived in an ideal place . The rectory had vast outhouses and one of the lofts housed the pigeons. I remember the tumblers and tipplers doing their acrobatics, the fantails strutting their stuff. We also had homing pigeons and often two or three of these would be bundled into a box and taken with us on a Sunday as we headed to church in one of my father's parishes. The pigeons did not have to attend the service; they were let loose as we went into the church and then on our arrival home, we would find them back safely in the loft.

Insect eaters

Over the last few days I have uploaded pictures onto my photoblog of one of the insectivorous plants I have (Drosera paradoxa). The idea was that as the series progressed I moved closer to the plant. Over the weekend I got out the microscopes and developed the theme a bit further.

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Utricularia (Bladderwort) was my starting point. I've never kept this species before, though I have seen it growing in the wild in the waterways in Holland. I bought a plant a couple of weeks ago and its delicate structure belies its sophistication as an animal trapper.

Utricularia (Bladderwort)

I put a couple of stems under the microscope and attempted to find some of its subterranean bladder traps, but did not meet with much success, not least because I was not quite sure what I was looking for. A future project methinks.

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Pinguilica (Butterwort), a favourite because of its almost all year round flowering. Many insectivorous plants are very canny in that they grow their flowers on long stalks to ensure they get pollinated by those  insects that haven't ventured low enough to be trapped and caught.

Butterwort leaves are sticky and glandular and under the microscope the stalked glands can be seen.

Pinguliica (Butterwort) leaf glands

Pinguliica (Butterwort) leaf glands - from a prepared microscope slide

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Sarracenia (Pitcher plant) was next for examination. The downward pointing hairs and sticky secretions became obvious as the "lid" to the pitcher was put under the microscope.

Sarracenia (Pitcher plant)

I looked at the inside of the pitcher too, expecting more downward pointing hairs, but didn't see any. Again, another project for further investigation. Maybe they are smaller ones than those on the lid, perhaps they are not so common in plants in autumn because there are no insects. More investigation and Googling research are required.

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Finally I couldn't resist the Drosera (Sundew), always eminently photogenic.

Drosera (Sundew)

Flowering stems coiling and curling high above the leaves

A reality check after all the glitter

We took the scenic way home after the Christmas tinsel bombardment and drove over narrow roads across wonderful countryside near Bleasdale; incredible views in all directions, to the Lake District and across to Morecambe Bay.

The tranquility and the wonderful colours of autumn made up for the brashness of the morning's experience.

It's only the middle of October for goodness sake!

We visited a local garden centre yesterday and were overwhelmed with an enormous display of things Christmassy; much of it exceedingly tacky and all of it, very expensive.









Glistening ice clad polar bears, tree lights that looked like real flames, Father Christmas in every size, shape, and form (some rather scary looking - perhaps trying to catch the Hallowe'en market at the same time).

Feathery angel wings .... where on earth do they come in the scheme of things?





How can there be fun and excitement to the build up of Christmas if it starts in the middle of October? Surely a parent's nightmare, with this time scale children will no doubt have changed their ideas multiple times before Christmas Day does finally arrive.

It's not just the children either; how about an Advent calendar for your cat or dog ? Next year no doubt the rabbit and guinea pig gap in the market will be filled with their very own snack filled calendar. If that is not enough, try a Santa outfit for your dog.


 Or am I just being a grumpy old Scrooge?

Unidentified flying livestock

This erudite beastie was found lurking on the Ipad. Having ascertained that it was not a bed bug, it got the photographic treatment under the microscope, After a quick bit of Googling it was identified as a woolly bear aka a Carpet beetle larva (aaarrgghhh!!) Now all that remains is to check that there are no others lurking around to munch their way through clothes and carpet.

Perhaps I should have fed it to my latest sundews.

Jolly hols

I am beginning to sort out some of the photographs from our sojourn to the Yorkshire Dales. We stayed at a converted Wesleyan chapel. Apparently the deeds stated that it could still be called upon to provide a space for Wesleyan worship should the need arise.








The sun shone on ripening corn as we arrived .













We went off to Leyburn on the Sunday and enjoyed an alfresco coffee at the Tourist information and texted my mother to check up on what Fat Rascals were. I had this idea that my Grandma used to make them, and this was confirmed, together with a recipe. Then the rain started ...

The metal peacocks in the garden provided plenty of photo opportunities, as did the garden furniture.

From coffee to

Eccentric tea pottery

Some tea is on tap

Stop, start

Recently, as I have looked at the blog, the time since the last posting becomes more daunting and off putting. Today, I have decided to cast caution to the wind and start writing and stop the gap. It will probably be a bit of  flit about like the dragonflies we saw on Sunday. They were not the iridescent blue ones we saw at Leighton Moss earlier in the year;  these ones seemed to have much more cumbersome bodies, possible Hawkers. Constantly on the move, it was impossible to take a photo of them as they dashed and dived among the reeds. Somehow, none of their wings seemed to beat in synchrony as they provided the action while the ducks and coots swam calmly about their business in the background. On our last visit the black headed gulls were in full nesting and breeding swing, raucous and noisy, Sunday's visit was much quieter.

Sunday was sunny, typical really, as it was the last day of our fortnight's holiday and the first full day's sun we had seen during that time. Wales, camping and current recent weather did not seem the ideal combo for a holiday idea so we had a change of plan and booked a converted Wesleyan Chapel in the Yorkshire Dales for a week. So, although it did rain, we didn't get too wet apart from getting spectacularly soaked at Bedale. The drenching was certainly more memorable than the place.

Stop start videos. I've been doing a bit of experimenting of late. Videos through the microscope, both time lapse and conventional, and then some playing around with a whizzy little app on the Ipad that will do time lapse/stop motion stuff..

Drops of water from the trays the sundew and pitcher plants sit in have shown there is a hive of activity going on in there with all manner of things whizzing and whirring around. The difficulty is in getting it all in focus, and  trying to follow them around is almost a none starter.

The ferns seem to be getting settled in the new raised bed and are beginning to spore. I brought some fronds in and managed to get some time lapse of sporangia exploding out their spores. Who can say plants are boring?

The stop motion app is providing plenty of displacement activity!