snail's pace

I found the smallest snail ever today. It was crawling up my recycling bin and i pick it up to show The Great Husbando. I put it on my finger and it was so light I could hardly feel it. Strange, but I really think snails are gorgeous.

Pink Fairy Castle Cake

My niece is turning four in a couple of days. Last week I asked her what type of cake she would like. So, we had a look through a huge cake decorating book and she decided on a Pink Fairy Castle Cake. Ellie was so cute, she kept asking if she could have two cakes, but when I said only one she kept coming back to this one. The colour is a little paler in the photograph then in real life--it is quite a shocking pink in reality. It's decorated in Jelly Tots, Midget Gems and Fizzy Rainbow Ribbon. If this doesn't make her jump for joy, I don't know what will!!!

It's the first time I've made my own fondant icing and I was a little worried about how it would work. Overall, I had nothing to fear--it's good stuff and quite easy to make.

WASP

Photographed last week

SPIDERS SPIDERS EVERYWHERE

It was a gorgeous September Saturday today--The sun was out and everything felt great.

We took my niece out to a local park where we found some great spiders. Here are the best shots.

No idea what type of spiders they are, if you know please tell me!

chaffinch

This little guy sat at our table outside the coffee shop at Clumber Park. Very tame indeed! I could have reached out and touched him,

Clumber Park

These photos were taken at Clumber Park in August.

In the smallest of places

I am always amazed that nature manages to grow even in the most unlikely places--this moss was flourishing on a brick wall in the middle of Nottingham.

Exotic Visitor

This handsome flew into our back yard and stayed for a day or two, but we haven't seen him since. He is an Eastern Rosella that we think probably escaped from someone's aviary.

Dazed and Confused

This young dove flew into our house a few weeks ago. He flew through the kitchen, then into the hall, then finally into the living room. There he went straight to the window and hit it several times trying to get out. After about five attempts he stopped and settled on the window sill. I got a blanket and wrapped it around him and put him back outside on the patio table. He stayed there for a goot five minutes looking very confused. It gave me enough time to get the camera and take a few shots.

Since then, he keeps visiting our backyard, though hasn't tried to come in again!

A Favourite

This is a photo taken earlier this year at Radcliffe Memorial Gardens in

Nottinghamshire. It is a beautiful garden filled with all sorts of plants. A great place to spot butterflies as well! I think the colours on this magnolia are magnificent.

flowers, toads, bees and wasps

A few photos of some flowers in my backyard. I love the one of the bee in the rose. He seemed to be in heaven and spent ages in there! The toad appeared in our little pond one morning and stayed a couple of days before moving on.

What is this?

A few nights ago, this bug settled down on our kitchen wall. Neither my husband or I had ever seen anything like it. Any ideas?

Thank you to Andy for Identifying this as: Amblyptilia punctidactyla

Sept 11--LADY BIRDS!

I was walking back from the doctor's office this morning and came upon a mass of ladybirds on some nettles. Most were orange with lots of black spots, but there were also a few black ones with orange spots. I've never seen those before! Too cool!

After some research on The Net, it turns out these are Harlequin Ladybirds. I love the evil look that the orange one has!