Some lilies from last year

Stunning!

Thanks Chavs

I wish my neighbours would grow something as fabulous as that Ren!

Christina - what can I say that the photo doesn't speak for itself?? oh my. Lovely flutterby too.

My main computer had a heart attack 2 days ago. I'm hoping it's just a fan or a motherboard as I have a LOT of photos that I'd never saved to cd since the player hasn't worked in over a year. Oh well, guess I can always start over. The best pix are in the human memory banks anyway, so they say.

The weather hasn't been condusive to taking pictures lately (at least not when I'm OFF work lol), but here's some "Martha Washingtons" planted in a bench hubby built out of barnwood from my grampa's farmstead. I suppose I should have taken it from a different angle to show off the bench, but... meh LOL

Lovely, the wood is gorgeous. I am debating "Wood"for the next two week theme.

Today I went to Overton which is a few miles past Basingstoke

That's lovely satguru. Is there anything better than an English country road in full flower?

Thanks Christina, many more to follow, here's a picture postcard view in North Waltham

More thatched cottages near the other ones

Those are both lovely photos. Real picture poscard English village. Time could pretty much have stood till there.

Forget me nots and Aqualegias

Couple of big poppies that came out this morning with a bed of iris behind them

Seaside time again, I was going to paddle this time but as I only had a little bag with paper money as it was so hot there weren't enough coins for the meter to stop. I got some nice photos though which was the main reason I went there.



Westcliff- not quite the sea but the Thames estuary.

Head Office of Newcastle Building Society in Cobalt Business Park

The gardens by the sea front at Westcliff

You've been right in my neck of the woods satguru. Are you going to the Air Show at the weekend?

I've basically been working my way round the clock face of the map to cover new areas, and as they finally widened the North Circular have been catching up east for a while as the problems there made it very hard till recently. I have been to it once at Leigh and was very impressed, and then again by pure chance at Biggin Hill years later so although I didn't have a camera with me then have seen it twice. But I did find a spot on the map which fulfils various major criteria for my statistics so am planning a return the other side of the Crouch when I get a chance.

Seen at a local garden show

This is the time of year when Rosie takes up her position under the fan

Oh gorgeous.

Haha that's too cute, ren!

Anyone for cake? GIANT cupcake even? Here's the centrepiece of my niece's Communion party last week:



(The icing is a bit dodgy in places, as the kiddies couldn't help picking at it from the second it was plated up. The part you can't see, at the back, was almost totally denuded of icing, and that photo was taken within a half an hour of the cake making its appearance).

No wonder. It's gorgeous. Nice photo.

Love it. I'm very jealous.

Part of Southend people don't normally take photos of (so I have)

Thanks Chavs. The poppies are lovely but they don't last long unfortunately. They earn their place by being so spectacular when they are out though. Strangely they don't come well from seed, which is rare for poppies, but the clumps are easy to divide and root pretty much anywhere you care to put them.

I really enjoy looking at all the great pictures in this forum. The variety is great and the images are all so well done.

My better half and I went for a walk in the local nature park. We were there mostly to look at the geese and ducks. Partway through the walk my wife suddenly stopped and let out a "Eek" or a "Augh" or something (I really should listen to her more closely). This was in the path ahead of us. I said "partway through the walk" when I should have said "very near the end of the walk" because after she spotted this, our nature walk was pretty much done. I believe it is a bull snake. He or she was about 4 feet long.

Great photo - are bull snakes dangerous?

Non venomous apparently and you can keep them as pets! How nice.

They are. We didn't.

This is Tulse Hill